Just a Few Words
by Allie357
Summary: Just a few words... How can just a few words set into motion events that you can never take back? Well, Riley Poole and Ben Gates definatly know. Ben has a sister. Riley saves her life. See inside for more info on the story... R&R if you feel the need.
1. Unusual Meetings

Disclaimer: I own nothing of National Treasure. If I did, I would be in the movies. But considering I'm not... That should tell you something.

A/N: So this is one of those: Ben's sister joins the hunt stories, but I figured adding more background to the characters like how Riley was brought on the hunt, how Ben and Riley met, and stuff like that. I don't really know how many chapters I'll get to before, we're in the movie part of it but I hope you all enjoy! Reviews would be nice but not necessary. However, no flames please.

--

I've never been one to be called a hero. Someone out there may but I'm not strong or brave. In fact, I'm a nerd and I run away from most fights. I guess you could say I'm a loser. All throughout high school and even now in college I've been subjected to the name calling. But I've gotten over it. I mean, it's life and those football jocks and cheerleaders will go with their careers for a few years then be fired or throw out their knees while I still have a job.

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Riley Poole, treasure hunter and computer nerd. Yes, I said treasure hunter. I, along with some of my friends, the legendary Templar Treasure and The City of Gold. But I'll get to all of that later.

More to the point, I'm sure someone would call me a hero. His name is Ben Gates, older brother to Amelia, or as we call her Mia. Ben and I didn't know each other before I met his sister but now we're the closest friends. Mia and I are also really close but we fight a lot. And I mean a lot, a lot. Every other thing we say to each other is a disagreement or the first of an argument. Yet she still seems to trust me and tell me anything. It's something I can't really wrap my mind around but I'm glad she did. If not... I don't really what to know what would have happened.

It is here that I begin my story.

--

It was late. Too late. Without realizing it, the twenty year old Riley Poole had stayed in the library for over six hours and it was almost eleven at night. The campus was eerily quiet for a college and even the crickets were silent. The soft glow of the lamps lit the concrete path that his trademark Converse sneakers softly scuffled on. As he walked, suddenly there was a noise in the bushes. It sounded almost like a moan... he shook his head. _It's nothing_ he told himself. _Nothing at all_. But then... it happened again.

Finally having enough, he walked towards where he heard the noise. But before Riley could look behind the bushes, his foot stood in something squishy. Closing his eyes, he tried not to focus on what it was. _Mud_ he thought. _It's just mud_. But something deep in his gut told him that wasn't the case.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked down. The liquid was a deep red. Blood... "Oh, no," he said aloud. Without making a sound, he peeked behind the bushes and saw a woman lying there, a deep gash in her side. "Oh, no," he repeated running to her side.

Riley had no medical experience at the time and had no idea what to do. Panic started to rise inside of his stomach and he tried to wake her up. When she did regain consciousness, she screamed, "Don't! Not again!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he shouted over her voice. "I won't hurt you!" Evidently, she believed the young man and stopped screaming.

Instead, she began crying. "Please, help me," she sobbed. "Help me!"

"I-I-I don't know what to do!" he said, trying to stay calm.

"Pressure," she managed to choke out. "Grab my jacket and scarf. Wrap it tightly around my body." He obeyed without question hoping she was right.

"What now?"

"Help me up," she ordered weakly.

"But, your side is like, gushing. Can you walk?"

She let out an involuntary shriek of pain and said, "I have to get to a hospital."

"I-I-I guess I'll try and carry you to my car. There's a hospital right around the corner," he managed to stutter out. But he hesitated for a minute, not sure on how to proceed. With one last thought he gingerly picked her up. Blood leaked from the makeshift bandage and onto his navy blue shirt and hands. The girl gasped in pain and he said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's fine," she whispered. "Go." Riley walked as fast as he could to his car without jostling the girl too much. When they finally got to his car, he placed her in the front seat and quickly moved to the driver's side. Still under the speed limit, he drove to the hospital while still trying to keep the dying girl in his car alive.

Finally, he pulled into the hospital parking lot and leaped out of the car. He grabbed her and ran into the ER, calling for help. A nurse took the girl from his hands and another told him to have a seat while they called the police. The police... It figures they would be called. The girl was attacked after all. _Oh man, they would probably think I did it. Crap..._ he thought. Slowly, his eyes traveled down to his hands and he saw red. They were trembling and caked in the wet blood of the girl. Down on his shirt, there was a large stain and it had dripped down onto his jeans.

A detective then walked over to the spot where he had sat down and said, "Hey, kid. You wanna tell me what happened?"

"W-well I was just walking back from the library-" he started but was quickly interrupted.

"This late?"

"I-I have a term paper due tomorrow and I-I lost track of time," he replied scared of what might happen.

"Go on," the detective said calmly.

"W-well I heard something in the bushes and so I-I walked over and I stepped in-in blood. When I went further into the bushes, th-there was a girl lying there. I ran over and tried to wake her up and she did screaming 'no don't. Not again.' I told her I wasn't going to hurt her so she asked me to help her. Her side was...bleeding bad. She-she told me to wrap her side with her scarf and asked me to take her to a hospital."

"And you're sure that's what happened?" he asked. He nodded in agreement. "Okay."

"I-is she going to be okay?" he asked as the officer tried to walk away.

"I don't know, kid," he said. "I'm going to need your clothes, shoes, DNA, and your fingerprints."

"Whatever you want," he said. "I swear I didn't hurt her."

He then want to the nurse and asked for a pair of scrubs for him. The officer then told Riley to go and change in the bathroom and wash the blood from his hands. He complied as if on autopilot. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before and he was doing this in the state of shock. When he got out of the bathroom he gave the officer his clothes and sat back down in the spot he had recently vacated. His hands were still trembling badly and he over heard the detective whisper, "I'm going to need you to do a sexual assault exam as well."_ Ah, hell..._ he thought. _The poor girl not only almost died but she was... Jesus... _

Then another guy rushed into the ER saying, "Where's my sister? Where's Mia?" The detective walked over to him and tried to calm him down.

"Sir, you're sister has been badly injured and attacked. She is in surgery right now," he said.

The man covered his mouth and said, "What happened?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out now." Then he leaned in and the officer said something about Riley. When the two, broke apart, the man walked over to him and sat down in the vacant seat beside him.

"Hey," he said. "You're the one that found my sister?" All he could do was nod. "I'm Ben," he said offering his hand.

"R-Riley," the younger managed to stutter. "I swear I didn't hurt her. I j-just found her. That's all."

The guy, Ben, nodded and said, "I know. I don't think you did anything." After a few moments of an awkward silence, Ben placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kid, you're shaking," he said.

He tried to avert his deep blue eyes, but Ben's brown ones found them anyway. They're depths held a concern for him Riley hadn't seen in the longest time. Against his will, he started to talk. "I haven't seen that much blood...ever. I thought she was dead for sure. When she freaked, I could tell she was terrified. I-I didn't know what to do..."

"Well, I'm glad you figured it out."

"I-I didn't," he confessed. "She had to tell me what to do."

"Thank you for listening to her." He smiled and he couldn't help but smile back.

All of a sudden, a doctor came in. "I'm looking for someone here for Amelia," he called.

Ben stood up and told Riley he'd be right back. He watched as the doctor said something and Ben covered his mouth. He nodded and said something back. The doctor said one final thing and walked away. Ben made his way back over to Riley. "Well, she's out of surgery and is going to be okay physically. Mentally, he's not so sure."

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked looking up at him.

"Because, when they brought her out of the ICU she woke up and asked for the brown-haired kid. The guy who found her. She wouldn't let it go, kept repeating it over and over again. Wouldn't calm down at all. They had to sedate her."

"So..."

"I think you should see her. She obviously wants to see you," Ben replied.

"I-I don't know if that's such a good idea," he replied. _Could I see this girl? Would I be able to keep it together? _he thought to himself. Sure, he saved her life but would she still want to see him when she got to know who he really was? He couldn't be sure...

"Come on," Ben said gesturing with his head behind him. "I'll be there too. And she wants to see you. Come on." he repeated. Reluctantly, Riley got up from the chair he had been sitting in for the last couple of hours.

Riley followed Ben to the entrance of her room. What he saw disturbed him. When he had saved her, it was dark and he couldn't see the damage done to her face. Bruises covered one side. Some were on her neck and looked oddly like finger marks. She had a split lip and her wrists were mangled as well. "I don't know if I can do this..." he told Ben his hand wrapping around his stomach.

"Come on," he said lightly touching his elbow. "It'll be fine, kid." He swallowed hard but followed him into her room anyway.

He lingered by the door and waited. When she looked up, her eyes filled with tears. "Ben," she whimpered.

"Hey, Mia," he replied with a small smile.

"I'm sorry," she said letting the tears fall.

"Don't worry," he said taking her hand in his. "Everything's gonna be all right. Now," he said. "You remember when you woke up and asked for the kid you found you?" She nodded. "Well, he's right there." His finger pointed to Riley and he looked down. He could tell that both of the siblings were looking at him.

"Ben," he heard her whisper, "could you give us a sec?"

"Sure," Ben nodded. "I'm just outside if you need me."

When the door closed, she said, "Hey."

"Hey," he answered back. "How are you f... Never mind. That's a-a dumb question."

"Feeling?" she finished. "Okay. Good news bad news I guess."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Bad news, the stitches hurt like hell. Good news, they just upped my morphine so..." she lightly chuckled as did he. "Thank you... for saving my life."

"No problem," he said not knowing what else to say.

"I don't even know your name..." she said.

"Riley," he said. "I'm Riley."

"I'm Mia," she responded holding out her hand. The boy was forced to move closer to shake it. "It's nice to meet you."

--

A/N: Did you like it? Good? Bad? Let me know! Thanks! :D


	2. Phone Calls and Propositions

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Don't sue me.

A/N: Here's the next chapter. Hope you like. Review if you feel the need.

--

After that day, Mia, Ben and I started hanging out more and more. Months passed and we got as close as three people can get. Ben and I would hang out and just talk about random things. Mia was doing surprisingly well considering what happened to her.

Since the day it happened, Mia and I had this bond. To be honest, I don't really know how to describe it, but it was this sense of trust. She acted upon that trust a few days after it happened and told me things I didn't even want to know. But her talking about it was better than not. That was the last time it was mentioned, to me anyway. That is...until I got the phone call.

I remember it was around eight on a Sunday night. She called and was crying. And I didn't know what the hell I was doing.

--

Riley's phone rang just as he logged onto his computer. Groaning in aggravation, he got up from his chair and walked over to the accursed device. With a high pitched beep he picked it up. "Hello?" he said.

"_Riley?"_ a familiar voice cried on the other end.

Suddenly, he wasn't so angry at the caller. "Mia?" he replied, very concerned. "What is it? What's the matter?"

"_Could you meet me somewhere? I need to talk to you,"_ she said, the tears very evident in her voice.

"Sure," he replied automatically. "Where?"

"_In front of the library in ten minutes,"_ she said. _"Please hurry."_ And without another word, she hung up.

Riley put the phone down, grabbed his keys, and bolted out the door. The last time this had happened she was completely losing her mind. The tone of her voice scared Riley and he did not want her falling off the deep end.

Ten minutes later, he was in front of the library waiting impatiently for Mia to show up. When she did, it was a sight to never see again. Her hair was disheveled and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Her face had blotches of red all over and her clothes looked like she hadn't changed in days. "God, Mia," Riley said. "What happened?"

"They want me to testify!" she cried. "I don't think I can do this!"

"Testify?" he asked trying to keep her calm.

"Against Derek! They said they don't have enough evidence to get a sure conviction and they need me to testify!"

"Oh, Mia..." Riley said, not knowing how to respond.

"I'm so terrified!" he whimpered. "I don't know if I can face him. I don't know if I can talk about what happened in front of all those people... Riley, I can't do this!"

"Mia, I'm sorry," he whispered pulling her into a hug. She cried into his shoulder and clung to his jacket.

After she took a few deep breaths, she said, "What should I do?"

"I think you should testify," he said slowly. Her eyes widened and salty tears filled them again. "Just think of it this way, if you do testify the jury gets to see how what he did affected you in an emotional way and they'll want to put him away so he can't hurt anyone else. But if you don't the jury doesn't get to see that and there's a bigger chance they won't convict him. Does that make sense?"

Sniffing, she nodded and wrapped her arms around him for another hug. "Do you always give this good advice?" she asked.

"No," he said. "So treasure it because, it'll most likely never ever happen again." A watery laugh escaped her lips and she smiled.

"You always know how to make me feel better," she said.

"It's my job," he replied. "I'm the 'comic relief' as it were."

As he pulled her in for one last hug, she said, "Thank you."

--

Mia did testify, and it affected her deeply. Luckily, both Ben and I were there to prevent her from falling into a depressive slump. Over the next four years we were close and hung out almost every day. Then, I graduated, moved away and got a job and we lost touch.

For three years I didn't see or hear from Mia. Ben called every once in a while, but I missed talking to Mia. I won't go through all of the seven years. It's essentially the same stuff and we wouldn't want you to get bored. We hung out then I was gone.

However, after three years, the two siblings decided to pay me a visit. Granted I wasn't there for the events preceding them coming to me but I have talked to them. What you're about to read is merely what I got from both Ben and Mia.

--

"Do you have any idea how many Charolettes there are buried in the US?" Mia asked pacing the room.

"Hundreds," Ben grumbled.

"Thousands," Mia corrected. "And we can't very well dig them all up! Does you're buddy Ian have any bright ideas?"

"I doubt it. He's smart but he's not that smart," Ben replied talking about his blond-haired British ex-roommate. He had resources Ben could only dream of and when he decided that he wanted to join the hunt for the legendary Templar Treasure, Ben agreed. "Wait," he said. "What if it's not a girl?"

"How many Charlottes do you know that are guys?" she asked. "Granted, It may help our search a little if it is..."

"No, no, no. I meant what if it's not a person. What if it's a ship?" he asked.

"Sailors often refer to their ship as 'she'," Mia agreed.

"And it fits with the other part of the riddle," Ben said. "'What lay in her heart, is a love for the sea' is the first part. I thought at first it would have to do with her being on the shore, but now I'm not so sure."

"Let's check online."

"Okay." They typed Charlotte/Ship/Freemasons into a search engine and they came up with a ship that had set sail from Boston Harbor in 1775. It never returned to port and was never heard from again.

"Well, if it was never heard from again then it sank to the bottom of the ocean. How the hell are we supposed to find it?" Mia said slumping back into her chair.

"We could theoretically come up with an algorithm to track where over two hundred years of current could take it," Ben suggested as he started to pace.

"Who could possibly do that without their brain exploding?"

"I think I know someone..." Ben said as he stopped moving.

"Oh, you're not thinking of who I think your thinking of, are you?"

"Oh, you know exactly who I'm thinking of..." he said with a grin.

"Riley Poole," the said together.

"Gosh, Ben I haven't spoken to him since we graduated..."

"Well, that's okay. I have. I think it's time we paid Mr. Poole a visit."

--

And they did. I defiantly wasn't expecting it, that's for sure. My job was lame. Tech support... I was a college graduate and I couldn't do better than Tech Support...

But enough about my failures. Let's just skip to the good part... where Mia decided to scare the crap out of me.

--

Mia and Ben sat in the car just outside of Riley's office. "Who wants to go in first?" Ben asked.

"I think you should," Mia replied. "I mean, you have been talking to him. I haven't."

"All the more reason for you to go in there," Ben said. "I'm sure he'd want to see you more." After a few more exchanges, Ben tricked Mia into going in.

"I hate you," she grumbled as the door to his silver car slammed shut. Her feet scuffled on the concrete as she walked up to the front doors to the Tech Support Headquarters._ How did he end up working here?_ she thought. As she pulled open the glass doors, she began to rethink what they were doing. Riley hadn't seen her in years. How could she possibly try and explain to him that what they were looking for was real? He would think they were crazy too. She felt like turning around and walking out the door, but she found herself asking the clerk where Riley's desk was. The grump woman told her with an eye roll where to find him and she guessed she really didn't enjoy her job. Mia didn't blame her. This office seemed to suck...

As she got closer, she could see the back of his head. The color of his hair hadn't changed, but the length had. An idea popped into the back of her mind, but she shrugged it off... At first. It kept coming back until she convinced herself to do it. "Tech support, how may I help you?" he said in a complete monotone voice he used when he was bored. "Yes, Sir, please hold. Tech support how may I help you?"

Her finger lightly touched the back of his neck, almost like a fly grazing it. He shrugged it off and went back to his job. She did it again, this time letting her finger linger for a second. When he turned around in his chair, she ducked behind him and waited. Seeing nothing, he turned back around to his desk only to find Mia, sitting on top of it filing her nails. Riley let out an involuntary shriek getting the attention of the surrounding cubicles. "Hey, Riley," she said. "Just as skittish as I remember you."

"Mia?" he asked. "What the hell is wrong with you? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Kind of what I was counting on," she replied hopping down. "I wasn't going to do it at first but, I t was such a good idea so... I just had to."

"I haven't seen you in three years and you wanted to give me a heart attack for no reason?" he asked taking off his headset.

"No," she replied. "I did come for a reason. But its sort of a long explanation. Maybe you could take the rest of the day off? Ben's just outside too, so..."

"Uh..." he said. "Sure. I guess I could have someone handle my calls."

"Cool," Mia said. "I'll be just outside with Ben and a couple of other guys okay?"

"Okay..." Riley said moving away from his desk to his boss's office.

--

I know that wasn't the classic 'hugging' and 'I missed you' reunion, but come on! Give me a break . I was getting over some serious shock. I don't know how I didn't see her, but she still managed to scare the crap out of me. The hugging came later when I told her and Ben I'd help them out.

I hadn't seen the girl in three years and she scared me. What else was I supposed to do? Oh, never mind. Let's just get back to the story...

--

"Riley!" Ben said. "Long time no see." Riley saw Ben and Mia leaning against a silver with a few other guys standing next to them.

"Nice to see you too Ben," Riley said walking in front of them. "Did you know your sister is cruel and a sadist?"

"I did not know that, but thank you for letting me know," Ben replied.

"Yeah, still here!" Mia added.

"So what's this about, Ben?" Riley asked. "I mean, we haven't seen each other in three years and all of sudden you show up here and asked for my help?"

"I know," Ben replied, "but just hear me out." He then launched into an detailed description of the Knights Templar and their treasure that the Freemasons supposedly hid. He talked on and on about the clues his family received and how he spent his entire life searching and searching for this treasure. He finally got to the part where he read off his last clue. 'The Secret lies with Charlotte'. "And we think that as opposed to a person, Charlotte is a ship and we need someone who's good with technology to try and create an algorithm to find the ship," Ben finished.

"And you think I can do this?" Riley said skeptically.

"Exactly," Ben said.

"Are you aware of how crazy this all sounds right now?" he asked.

"I was kind of afraid you'd say that..." Mia whispered.

"Well, I'm not saying that..." Riley said. "I mean, it does sound crazy but that doesn't mean I don't believe you. Who are they?"

"Them?" Ben asked motioning behind him. "Oh, that's Ian. He's my old college roommate. He wanted to help out."

"Right..." he said. After another moment of thought, he said, "Is there anything in it for me?"

"The...thought that you're helping out your two best friends..." Mia said with a smile.

"You don't have to work in a cubicle," Ben added.

"I'm in!" Riley replied.

--

Just two words... How can just two words set into motion events that you can never take back? All I said was 'I'm in' and now... So many things have happened because of it I can't even count. So, off to the Arctic we go, because that's where my genius calculations led us. The flight was long and annoying thanks to Mia. And when we got there, it was cold. Very cold. If I was wrong... someone was gonna get smacked. That's all I'm saying...

--

A/N: So the end of chapter two. Like? Hate? Let me know if you want. ;D


	3. The Arctic Circle

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Here's a longish chapter for you. Review if you want. I'd like it... But you don't have to. Enjoy.

--

"Hey Riley. Hey Riley. Hey Riley. Hey Riley. Hey Riley. Hey Riley."

"What?!"

"I'm bored."

"Oh, my god Ben. Why did you give her coffee?" Riley shouted behind him. They hadn't even taken off yet and Mia was already annoying the crap out of everyone surrounding her.

"I don't even know anymore," Ben replied pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed. Ian had a hand on his forehead and the rest of Ian's posse was somewhere else on the flight. Ben's finger lightly pressed the call button and a flight attendant walked over.

"What can I get you, Sir?" she asked politely.

"A few aspirin, please," he said with a small smile.

"And a tranquilizer if you have it," Riley added.

"Shut up," she said. "I'm bored."

"We haven't even taken off yet!" Riley said.

"Doesn't mean I'm not bored," Mia retorted.

"Read a book," he suggested.

"I don't wanna," she whined. "Play a game with me. Talk with me. At least give me something to do other than just sit here. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on..." She kept going as Riley pressed his face into a small pillow and groaned in frustration.

The flight attendant came back with Ben's aspirin and Riley asked Ian, "Don't you have a few sleeping pills we could slip her? It's over a six hour flight..."

Ian's eyes widened as he pulled out a few pill from his bag. "You're going to drug my sister?" Ben asked.

"Hell yes!" Riley replied. "Are you honestly telling me that you want to listen to 'Hey Ben. Hey Ben. Hey Ben. Hey Ben.' the whole trip? I don't think so. If these don't work, I'll hit her upside the head or something. She just needs to shut up."

Ben reluctantly nodded in agreement and Riley got Mia's attention. "Take these," he said.

"What are they?" she asked.

"Just take the damn pills," Riley said. Mia sent him a skeptical look but popped the pills in her mouth anyway. A half hour later, she was fast asleep with her mouth open and her head on the window.

"Did you kill her?" Ben asked.

"No," Ian said. "She'll just be out for a few hours so we can get some sleep as well."

"There is a God," Riley said with a smile.

--

I do not condone drugging your friends but she was seriously the most annoying person on the entire flight. Have you ever had a small five year old on a sugar rush at a birthday party come home with you just after they consumed four pieces of cake and several sodas? Yeah, that's how she was. I'm completely certain that any of us would have killed her if she had stayed awake the entire flight.

Now, we'll skip the part where we landed and got all our gear together 'cause that's kind of boring. Well not kind of. Its really boring. Let's just skip ahead...

--

"Good God, it freezing! Why is it so cold?" Mia complained.

"Well, it is the arctic circle genius," Ben reminded his sister.

"Remind me again why I decided to come with you."

"Because you want this as much as I do." Ben, bundled up in several layers of clothing, was referring to the Templar Treasure they had heard about when they were little kids. Mia, his also brown-haired, petite little sister, was five and Ben was ten but they had understood and hung on every word of their grandfather's story. Their father didn't approve of the treasure hunting ever since he had driven his wife away because of it. Ben got along with their father just fine, but Mia had some serious issues with him. And not just the normal ones of a teenager hating their dad. Hers were...deeper... Even Ben didn't know what made her hate him so much and she wasn't about to tell anyone. Maybe it was something he did or maybe it was just because what she wanted, she couldn't get living under his roof. Ben and Mia ended up going to the same college and she was closer to him than anyone else in their family.

Here they were twenty years later riding through the arctic circle in a snow vehicle trying to find the ship _Charlotte, _that their grandfather said the 'secret lies with'.

"How close are we?" Ian said from the driver's seat.

"Well, if Ben's theory is right and my calculations are correct," said Riley, "we should be getting pretty close." Riley was a technology geek and had no interest in history what-so-ever. However, Ben was his best friend since he had pulled Mia out of a pretty tight spot. Ben didn't know the whole story because Mia didn't like to talk about it and Riley, who was very good at keeping secrets, didn't tell Ben anything either no matter how much he had threatened him. The only information he got was from the police and even that was minimal... The only thing Ben did know was Riley had probably saved his sister's life. More to the point, Riley agreed to help the siblings out. "But don't go by me," he continued, "I broke a shoelace this morning." Weird glances came from everyone in the car and he explained, "It's a bad omen."

"If you want we can turn around and go home," Ian suggested sarcastically.

"I vote we throw him out right here," Mia said raising her hand.

Riley gave a fake laugh and said, "See, that's funny."

"I'm sure he's not missing that windowless cubicle I rescued you from, are you Riley?" Ben asked him. Riley's eyes widened as he shook his head.

Beeping came from the computer and Riley interpreted this as, "We're here." The vehicle slowed to a stop as did the one behind them filled with Ian's buddies.

"All right!" Ben announced, "Everyone grab a metal detector!" They were quickly handed out and about fifteen minutes after that Mia shrieked.

"Ben! I think I found something!" she called. He rushed over and poured hot water over the icy area. Ben smiled and glanced at his sister revealing the word _Charlotte. _"We found it, B! We found it!" she said excitedly.

"Hello beautiful," Ben whispered.

--

It took over an hour to dig the whole ship out of the deep snow but in the end it was done. Ian led the team of Ben, Riley, Mia, and Shaw, one of Ian's friends, down to the cargo hold of the boat. Expecting to find treasure, they were disheartened to find only barrels of gun powder. A shriek from Riley turned all their focus onto him. Upon seeing the dead frozen body he had yelped and fallen backwards onto the floor. "You handled that well," Mia teased him.

"Shut up," he growled narrowing his eyes.

After a chuckle and head-shake, Mia turned her attention back to figuring out why they clues had led them to the ship. She wandered over to a specific barrel with her eyebrows furrowed. "Now," she said softly to herself, "why would the Captain be guarding this barrel?" She moved the body with a sickening crack from the old bones. The barrel opened and when she dug through the gunpowder, she found a box wrapped in old cloth. "Ben!" she called. "I think you should take a look at this." Her brother came over and proceeded to open the box. A meerschaum pipe lay on the inside.

Riley stupidly asked if it was worth a billion or a million dollars to which Ben replied, "No. It's a clue."

"Give it here, Ben," Mia asked. Pulling apart the stem from the body of the pipe, she examined the scroll on the stem.

"Don't break it," Riley said to her. She threw a look over her shoulder that told Riley to shut up.

Narrowing her eyes in thought she asked, "Ben can you give me a knife?" while taking off her glove.

Knowing what she was about to do Ben shook his head. "No. Hand it over. I'll do it."

"I'm not made of glass, Ben. I won't break from a little cut."

"You could bleed to death," he retorted.

"I'm not a hemophiliac."

"Give it here," he ordered. Glaring, she gave up the battle. "Thank you." He cut his finger and wiped the blood on the stem. He pulled revealing a riddle. "Templar symbols. 'The legend writ, the stain affected, the key in Silence undetected. Fifty-five in iron pen. Mr. Matlack can't offend,'" he read aloud.

When he got blank looks from everyone, Mia said, "It's a riddle." Her and Ben then began to pace around the cargo hold, talking to each other. "'The legend writ the stain affected.' What legend?"

"There's the legend of the Templar treasure," Ben suggested. "The stain affects the legend. 'The key in Silence undetected.'"

"Wait," Mia said. "Legends, keys...There's something. A map."

"Right," Ben agreed. "Maps have legends. Maps have keys. It's a map."

"An invisible map," Mia added.

"Right," Ben said.

"Wait," Ian interjected. "What do you mean invisible? An invisible map?"

"The stain affect could refer to a dye or reagent used to bring about a certain result, combined with the key in Silence undetected," Ben explained.

Again, blank looks came from around the cabin and Mia said, "The implication is to make what was undetectable detectable."

"Unless," Ben said, "the key in silence could be-"

"Prison!" Shaw exclaimed.

"Albuquerque!" Riley shouted rolling his eyes. "See. I can do it too. Snorkel!"

Shaw ignored this and went on to say, "It's where the map is. Like you said, Fifty-five in iron pen. Iron Pen is a prison."

Ben shook his head and said, "Or it could be because the primary writing medium of the time was iron gull ink, the pen...well its just a pen."

"But," Mia said sitting down, "then why say not just say pen? Why say iron pen?"

"Because it's a prison," Shaw mumbled. Mia rolled her eyes and focused once more on the task at hand.

"Wait, it doesn't describe the pen, its describes what was penned. It was iron, it was firm, it was mineral. No, no, no, no... that's stupid. It was firm, it was adamant, it was..."

"Resolved!" Mia said.

Ben smiled and walked over to her. "It was resolved," he repeated. "'Mr. Matlack can't offend'. Timothy Matlack was the official scribe of the Continental Congress."

"Calligrapher, not writer," Mia added.

"And to make sure he could not offend the map it was put on the back of a resolution that he transcribed. A resolution that fifty-five men signed."

"The Declaration of Independence," Mia whispered.

"There cannot be an invisible map on the back of the Declaration of Independence," Riley objected with a nervous chuckle.

"Ingenious really," Ian interjected. "A document of the importance would insure the map's survival. And you said several Masons signed it?"

"Nine for sure," Ben confirmed.

Ian nodded then said, "We'll have to arrange to have a look at it."

"But," Mia said, "this is one of the most important documents in history. They're not just gonna let us waltz in there and run chemical tests on the thing."

"Then what do you propose we do?"

"I don't know!" Ben said.

Ian was silent for a moment the said, "We could borrow it."

"You mean steal it?" Ben said. "No. I don't think so."

"The Templar Treasure is the treasure of all treasures!" he objected.

"I had no idea!" Mia mocked.

"No. Really?" Ben supplied sarcastically.

"Ben, Mya-"

"Mia," she said. "It's Mia. Not really a hard name to remember..." He never did get her name right.

Instead of correcting himself, he simply pressed on. "I understand your bitterness. I really do. You've spent your entire lives looking for this treasure only to have the historical community treat your family with mockery and contempt. You should be able to rub this in their arrogant faces! I'm trying to give you that chance."

"How?" Ben asked.

"Do you think my skills are limited to writing checks?" he asked. "No. In a past life… I arranged several operations of… questionable legality. Don't worry. I'll make all the arrangements."

"No! You can't seriously be thinking about stealing it!" Mia objected.

"No," Ben said. "We are not going to steal the Declaration of Independence."

"Well," Ian sighed. "I guess from now on all you're going to be is a hindrance." Shaw pulled out his weapon and pointed it at Ben.

"What? Are you gonna shoot me, Shaw?" Ben wondered. "Well you can't shoot me. There's more to the riddle. Information you don't have. I do. I'm the only one who can figure it out and you know that."

"He's bluffing," Shaw said.

"We play poker together, Ian," Ben said. "You know I can't bluff."

"Tell me what I need to know," Ian ordered, "or I'll shoot your sister." Shaw immediately swung Mia around and put the gun to her temple.

"Hey!" Riley shouted, his protective instincts finally kicking in.

"Quiet Riley!" Ian ordered "Or I could always take her. She knows just as much as you do."

Ben then pulled out and lit a flare. The bright red glow illuminated Ben's tense features. "Look at where you're standing. Look at all that gun powder. You shoot or take her, I drop this and we all go up," he threatened.

"Ben…" Riley warned.

"And what happens when the flare burns down," Ian said with an evil grin. "Tell me what I need to know."

Ben stole a glance at his sister. She looked panicked and her bottom lip was shaking. "You need to know… if Shaw can catch!" And he threw the flare. Ian caught it with a laugh but it caught everyone by surprise when his hand was engulfed in flames. He dropped the flare and set fire to the ship. Mia used Shaw's momentary shock to punch him across the face and escape. Bright orange flames were blocking her from Ben so she ran straight to Riley. After a quick embrace, they ran towards Ben who had called for them.

"What is this?" Riley asked when they got there.

"It's a smuggler's hold! Get in!" he said urgently. They dashed down a few small hallways. Just after Ben shut the last door and shielded Anna with his body the ship blew up. Shoving their way out of several feet of snow, they gasped for air as they reached the surface. Ben immediately made his way to his little sister. Her hands trembled and he pulled her into a tight hug. A small sob escaped her lips and she held onto Ben tighter. "Its okay. Its all right," he assured her.

She pulled away and said, "I'm okay, Ben. Just a little shaken up is all."

"What are we gonna do?" Riley asked.

"There's an Inuit Village about nine miles east of here. Its popular with the bush pilots. We'll make our way there and then our way back to the States."

"I think he means about Ian," Mia told him. "He's gonna steal the Declaration of Independence Ben."

"We stop him," he said simply.

Riley and Mia looked at each other and silently asked 'How?' as Ben trekked through the knee deep white snow.

--

Ah, the lovely ship explosion. I've never liked guns much after that. Or fire. Or... well everything having to do with that. We did end up making it to the small village after a nine mile hike knee deep in the snow. It was...well, it basically sucked.

We also made our way back to the states and Ben was true to his word. Sort of... We went to the Department of Homeland security. They didn't believe us. Shocker... We then went to the FBI... If only they took as much pride in doing their jobs as they did in their suits...

--

A/N: Well, there you go. I have a lot of this story already written so it should come fairly regularly. Thanks for reading this far if you have... Shoot me a review to tell me how I did if you feel the need.


	4. Dr Chase

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of National Treasure.

A/N: Like I said, there's going to be a chapter a day because I already have most of this written. Review if you want to. You don't have to but I'd like it...:D

--

"I can assure you that the Declaration cannot possibly be stolen," a frustrated FBI agent told them for what felt like the hundredth time. "It is one of the most protected documents in human history. No one can possibly steal it."

"Sir, I don't think under-" Mia started but was quickly interrupted.

"No. I don't think you and your friends understand. Thank you for your concern but I don't find this relevant. Have a nice day," he said dismissing them.

"Well that went well," Riley said sarcastically.

"Well done Mr. Holmes," Mia replied with a mock British accent. "I do believe you've solved another one!"

"Very funny," Riley muttered. "Is it really so hard to believe that someone is going to steal the Declaration of Independence?"

"The FBI gets over ten thousand tips a week. They're not going to worry about something they're sure is safe." Ben rejected.

"Ben, no one is going to be crazy enough to believe us," Mia told him. "I mean, our family is already considered crazy. This is just gonna fuel the fire."

"And," Riley added, "anyone crazy enough to believe us isn't gonna want to help."

"We don't need someone crazy," Ben said. "just one step short of crazy. What do you get?"

Mia snorted. "Ian."

Riley gave a laugh and added, "The IRS."

Ben just smiled. "However correct those answers may be, they're not the ones I was looking for."

Riley then responded with, "Obsessed."

Ben's eyebrows raised as he glanced over at his sister. Seeing her angry look, they both said together, "Passionate," and walked away, leaving Riley standing alone, wondering what he had done.

--

"I don't understand why I can't just come with you," Mia complained from the back of Riley's red van. Tech supplies and other electronic objects layered the floor and shelves of the back of his van. You could hardly see the floor let alone stand on it without stepping on something.

"Because I don't want too many people in that office, Mia," Ben retorted.

"Make Riley stay here," she whined. "I'm much smarter than he is."

"I heard that!" he called in a sing-song voice from far in the interior.

"You were supposed to!" she sang back, her beautiful features contorted into a scowl.

"Okay," Riley said emerging from inside the van ignoring Anna's last comment, "now this- here you go, Ben- is an earwig. Both Ben and I will be wearing them so you can talk to us while we're in there. We'll also be wearing microphones so you can hear the conversation we're having with the curator. You'll be able to talk and hear us through this blue tooth. All you have to do is stick it in your ear and voila."

"Awesome," she said none-too-enthusiastically. "Well go on, oh tech-smart one."

"I will," he replied shutting the sliding van door on a pouting Mia.

--

"You know," Riley whispered to Ben from the lobby to the curator's office, "I'm afraid Mia may kill us this time."

"Don't worry, Riley," Ben whispered back. "I'm sure she'll only kill _you_."

"Thanks, but, and not to rain on your parade, that doesn't make me feel any better," Riley muttered.

"It makes me feel better," Ben said with a smirk.

"_I can hear you, you know,"_ Mia said over the earwig.

"Forgot about that," Riley groaned to himself.

"Dr. Chase will see you now, Mr. Brown," the receptionist said to the two men.

"Mr. Brown?" Riley asked as he got up from the blue waiting room chairs.

"_Our family name doesn't get much respect in the academic community, Riley," _Mia's voice floated in their ear.

"Ah, being kept down by the man," Riley replied to the disembodied voice. As they both walked into the office, they saw an attractive blond rise from the chair behind the desk cluttered with frames and historical artifacts. This prompted Riley to whisper, "A very cute man…"

"_Riley, I didn't know you rolled that way," _Mia told him, a smile very clear in her voice.

"Hello, gentleman. I'm Abigail Chase," the blond informed them.

"_Whoa! It's a chick? Didn't see that coming."_

"Paul Brown," Ben replied ignoring his sister's comment.

Dr. Chase turned to Riley as he stuttered, "B-Bill."

"Nice to meet you Bill," she said with obvious skepticism.

"_Bill? That's the best you could come up with? Bill? We have got to work on your improv skills, man."_

"Shut up," Riley growled under his breath.

"Excuse me?" Dr. Chase said, hearing what Riley growled. He covered up his mistake by coughing loudly.

"Your accent?" Ben said trying to divert the focus away from Riley's blunder. "Pennsylvania Dutch?"

As the woman corrected Ben Mia said, _"You know, I take what I saud back. I like being out here. I can torture you and you can't do a thing about it." _And she laughed. Riley frowned at both Mia and the other woman.

"Wait, you're not American?" Riley asked.

"Oh," she started, "I am American. I just wasn't born here. Please don't touch that!" she snapped at Ben who reached for several campaign buttons displayed on a wall.

"I see you have an astounding collection. George Washington's campaign buttons. You're missing the 1789 Inaugural though. I found one once."

"That's very fortunate for you. Now you told my assistant that this was an urgent matter?"

"_Ben, you really shouldn't take that, 'if you've got it, flaunt it' thing to heart. It pisses people off," _Mia reminded him.

After sitting down in the two chairs across from the desk, Ben immediately said, "Well, I get right to the point. Someone is going to steal the Declaration of Independence."

"It's true," Riley said when she didn't respond.

"I think I'd better put you boys in touch with the FBI-" she began, picking her phone.

"We've been to the FBI," Ben told her. She then hung up the phone.

"They assured us the Declaration cannot possibly be stolen," Riley offered, tremendously bored as if he'd done this a million times.

"They're right," she replied.

"My friend and I are less certain. However, if we were given the privilege of examining the document, we would be able to tell you for certain whether or not it is in any danger," Ben told her.

"What do you hope to find?" she asked.

"We believe there is an encryption on the back," Ben said.

"An encryption, like a code?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Of what?" she said with raised eyebrows.

"Uh, cartograph," Ben said simply.

"A map?" she translated. "A map of what?"

"_She sure asks a lot of questions. Are you sure she's not the department shrink?" _Mia said in the mens' ears.

"The location of hidden items of historic and intrinsic value," he stated ambiguously.

"_Good going, slick. I hope she has a great vocabulary."_

"A treasure map?" she asked.

"And that's where we lost the FBI," Riley groaned.

"Your treasure hunters aren't you?"

"More like treasure protectors," Ben corrected.

"Well I have personally seen the back of the Declaration of Independence and the only thing there is a notation that reads 'Original Declaration of Independence. Dated July 4, 1776.' But no map," Dr. Chase recited.

Ben let out a small groan before continuing, "It's invisible."

Riley put a hand to his head and whispered, "And that's where we lost the Department of Homeland Security."

"_Not helping Riley," _Mia told him.

"What led you to assume there was this invisible map?" she asked with an obvious smirk on her face and in her voice.

"An engraving on the stem of a 200 year old pipe," Ben stated matter of factly.

"Owned by the Freemasons," Riley added.

"May I see the pipe?" she asked suddenly intrigued.

Riley looked at Ben who looked back at Dr. Chase. "We-we don't have it."

She leaned in, squinted her eyes and said, "Did Big Foot take it?"

"Okay!" Ben said ending the conversation. "It was nice meeting you."

"Nice to meet you too."

Ben made a comment about her buttons being a nice collection and then he and Riley walked out of the curator's office.

--

Darling Abigail... It's plausible that she wouldn't believe us, but to mock us in the way she did. That was uncool. She was kind of hot but... she was really irritating. I don't understand how Ben fell for... well for that. I still don't get it.

Granted since she's been in the family for a while, she's gotten less irritating, but not by much. Actually, not really at all...

Mia was equally irritating during the conference, and I let her know it too. So, I'm not good at coming up with stuff off the top of my head. So sue me...

--

"Over a hundred and eighty years of searching and I'm three feet away," Ben whispered standing in front of the Declaration in the National Archives Building. Other tourists surrounded him, oblivious to the plot ensuing before them. "Of all the ideas that became the United States, there's a line here that's above all the others. 'But when a long train of abuses and usurpation's pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism. It is their right. It is their duty to throw off such government, and provide new guards for their future security.' People don't talk that way anymore."

"Beautiful," Riley whispered. "No idea what you said," he added.

"_It means," _Mia jumped in, _"when something goes wrong that those with the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action… Wait, Ben you're not thinking what I think you're thinking."_

"What's he thinking?" Riley asked a little too loudly. People started at his question to no one as they passed by.

"I'm gonna steal it," Ben muttered.

Riley chuckled, coughed, then asked, "What?"

"I'm gonna steal the Declaration of Independence," he said again. Turning on his heels he walked away, leaving Riley standing there stupidly laughing.

"_Riley, he's serious," _Mia told him gravely in his ear.

"Ben!" Riley called as he ran across the tiled floor.

--

A/N: So here's another one. Review if you want. Thanks for reading.


	5. Did I Mention He's Not Related to Me?

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all.

A/N: So here's another chapter for you. You don't have to, but it would be nice if you did review. But I'll live if you don't. Happy reading.

--

It's amazing how a few simple words can lead to a succession of events you can never take back. "I'm in," and "I'm going to steal the Declaration of Independence." You get my drift. We seem to have a lot of those... How did we get so good at tag lines? We should have a business...

Sorry. I guess you want to know what said events are. This should be fun...

--

"This is huge," Riley said after telling Mia to join them on the steps of the Archives. "Prison huge. You are going to go to prison, you know that?"

"Probably," Ben replied. His hands were folded in his lap as he sat on the white stone stairs.

Riley sat down next to him as he said, "It would bother most people."

Just before Ben had a chance to respond, Mia came bounding up the steps two at a time. "Benjamin Franklin Gates!" she screamed. Heads began to turn as she continued. "You can't possibly intend to steal-"

She was interrupted with a desperate cry of "Shh!" from both men.

Taking a deep breath, she continued in a whisper but with no less intensity, "-steal the Declaration of Independence! That's insane! Riley's right! Never thought I'd say that, but there you go!"

Ben persisted. "If Ian gets his hands on the Declaration, he'll destroy it. So the only way to protect it is to steal it. It's upside down."

"No! What's upside down is your logic!" she shrieked. "For Crimiany's sake, Ben, it's like stealing a national monument," she said pointing behind her. "It's- it's like stealing him!" she said pointing to the Lincoln Monument. "It can't be done!" By this point she had gotten hysterical. "Not-not-not it shouldn't be done. It can't be done. I-" One deep breath later she said, "Let us prove it to you."

--

"Okay," Mia whispered. "We've brought you to the Library on Congress. Why?"

"Because it's the biggest library in the world," answered Riley. "Over 20 million books and they're all saying the same thing."

"'Listen to us.' Now, what we have here, Brother," she said getting out several sheets of paper and books, "is an entire layout of the Archives. We have builder's blueprints, construction orders, phone lines…"

"...water and sewage," Riley added.

"Right. Its all here. Now, when the Declaration is on display it is surrounded by…"

"…video monitors…" Riley said.

"…and guards…" Mia added trying to trump Riley.

"…and little families from Iowa…"

"…and little kids on their eighth grade field trip," Mia said throwing Riley a look. She continued, "And beneath an inch of bullet proof glass…"

"…is an army of sensors and hear monitors that will go off if someone gets too close with a high fever." Mia shot Riley a look that said 'Do you plan on doing this the whole time?' He shrugged and she went on.

"Now when the Declaration is not on display it is lowered into a 4-foot-thick…"

"…concrete…"

"…steal-plated vault…"

"…that happens to be equipped with an electronic combination lock and biometric access/denial systems." Both Riley and Mia had thought they made a good case. It was next to impossible to steal it.

Ben however looked unfazed. "For the record, you guys finishing each other's sentences is starting to creep me out. More to the point: did you know Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times to make the carbonized copper filament in the incandescent light bulb?"

"Edison?" Riley asked.

"How is that more on point?" Mia asked.

"When asked about it he said, 'I didn't fail. I just found 2,000 ways how not to make a light bulb.' But he needed to find only one way to make it work." He picked up a book he had been looking at and plopped it down in front of the two younger ones. "The Preservation Room. Go ahead. Enjoy. Do you know what the Preservation Room is for?"

"Delicious jams and jellies?" Riley asked. Mia threw up her hands and rolled her eyes in frustration at his lack of knowledge.

"No. It's where they clean, maintain, and store all the documents and storage housings that are not on display or in the vault. When the case needs work, they take it out of the vault, across the hall, and into the preservation room. The best time for us or Ian to steal it would be during the Gala this weekend when the guards are distracted by the VIP's upstairs, but we'll make our way to the Preservation Room where there is much less security."

Riley studied this for a moment muttering a few things. "This might be possible…" he said.

Mia smacked his arm and said, "Who's side are you on?"

"Yeah," Ben replied ignoring his sister. "It might."

--

Needless to say Mia wasn't very happy with me. This lead to more fights in the span of four days than we could have possibly had in the span of a few weeks. I'm almost positive Ben was going to kill us. That was exactly why he made the both of us stay in the van for the most part. That way, if we did fight, he wasn't there to hear it.

Unfortunately, he didn't count on the fact that he would have an earwig in.

--

It took several days for them to get the plan ready and in motion with much protest from Mia. She was constantly warning him that if they got caught every one of them would have a one way ticket to the national penitentiary. Ben constantly ignored her and knew she'd follow him anyway no matter the consequences. Riley was soon all for it and this annoyed Mia immensely.

Finally, all of the pieces were falling into place. The button had been sent and Ben had gotten his disguise. The night of the Gala, Ben emerged from Riley's red van and slammed the door in his friend's face as he tried to be sure this was what he wanted to do.

"Apparently so," Riley muttered to himself, slightly miffed that Ben ignored him like he did.

"Get used to it Riley," Mia said putting in her own earwig. "He does this to me all the time. Especially when he gets tunnel vision."

Her computer froze up and she gave a frustrated groan as she smacked the screen. When this didn't help she hit the **Enter **button multiple times very hard in anger. "That way never works," Riley told her.

"This way makes me fell better," she growled as she pounded another key down.

"Let me fix it," he said. "Before you destroy your key board."

"_Can you hear me?"_ Ben voice asked floating through the earwig.

"Unfortunately, yeah," Riley replied. "I think Mia's a little tense."

"_Why do you say that?" _he muttered as Mia watched Ben disappear into the Archives.

"Well, she almost smashed her computer screen in and snapped her keyboard in half," he answered.

"Really?" Mia interrupted. "I seem a little tense, do I? It could be because we're about to steal one of the most important documents in human history. Or maybe because I know if he gets caught I'm going to prison for conspiracy to commit grand larceny! That could be why I'm a tad stressed out!" The microphone let out a shrill squeak and Riley cursed under his breath.

"You can't yell. It'll over wire the circuit," he warned.

"Sorry," she muttered curling up and putting her head down on her knees.

"You okay?" Riley asked, taking his fingers off the keys of the laptop.

"I'm fine," she lied. "Continue with your plan," she said, trying to be light and waving her hand.

"Okay..." he replied, not believing a word she said. Riley did continue but with some hesitance, knowing this was taking a really big toll on her. She cared deeply for her brother. And if he got hurt...Riley didn't know what would happen.

Luckily, the plan went off without a hitch… at first. _"For you,"_ Ben said.

"_Mr. Brown,"_ they heard Dr. Chase say from inside the van.

"Is it that hot girl?" Riley asked.

"Shallow," Mia spat over Ben and Abigail's conversation.

"Insecure," Riley shot back.

"At least I can get a date."

"At least I don't need one."

"Riley, you taught yourself how to hack. If that doesn't scream 'I need a girlfriend' I don't know what does."

"Are you volunteering?" he asked.

"Ha!" she said. "In your dreams!"

"More like nightmares!"

"Bastard!" she said.

"Bitch," he retorted. She then smacked him on the back of the head. "Ow, Ben! She hit me!" The microphone gave a shrill yell and both Riley and Anna reached for their ear. "He hit the microphone," Riley said.

"_Oh, Dr. Herbert, this is Mr. Brown,"_ Abigail said.

"_Hi," _the man named Dr. Herbert said.

"_Hi there,"_ Ben said.

"Who's the stiff?" Riley asked, but again was ignored.

"_How about I take that," _Ben said to Abigail,_ "so you can take that off his hands. A toast, yeah?" _he asked._ "To high treason. That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and oh, my personal favorite, have their entrails cut out and burned!"_ He then chuckled and Riley and Anna exchanged glances.

"Did I mention that Ben's not really related to me? He was switched at birth at the hospital and my real brother doesn't take enjoyment out of people's entrails being cut out and burned," Mia said.

"No, I don't think you did," Riley muttered and went back to listening to the conversation.

"_So here's to the men who did what was considered wrong to do what they knew was right. What they knew was right..."_ he said. After downing the entire glass of champagne, he said good night and walked out.

Mia rolled her eyes and said, "Good job. Why didn't you just yell 'I'm stealing the Declaration of Independence!' in her face? It would have been a whole lot easier. And you wouldn't have to put the FBI through so much trouble."

"_Shut up..."_ he growled.

"Why do people always keep telling me to shut up?" Mia asked, with her head on her hand.

"_Maybe because you need to shut up,"_ Ben said.

"You really should stop talking to yourself, Ben," Mia said. "People are gonna think you're a Schitzo..."

After a few exchanges between Ben and Riley debating on whether or not the super glue trick would work, Ben made his way to the elevator. _"I'm in the elevator,_" he informed them.

"Okay," Riley said. "I'm turning off the surveillance cams...in five, four, three, two, one, now. Ben Gates, you are now the invisible man."

"Its actually working..." Mia whispered.

"Give me the letters for the password," Riley said. "Hit me."

"_A...e...f...g...l...o...r...v...y..."_ he read off.

Riley then hit enter on his computer and said, "Okay, anagrams being listed. Top results: 'A glove fry', 'A very golf', 'Fargo Levy', 'gravy floe', 'valey frog'..." he continued with this as Mia tried figuring it out in her head.

Something popped into her mind and she hit Riley's leg to quiet him as she said, "It's 'Valley Forge.' Ben it's 'Valley Forge'. She pressed the 'E' and 'L' twice." The faint sound of keys being hit floated into her ear along with the ping of the correct password. Mia smiled and Riley scowled.

"How did you do that when my computer couldn't?" he asked bitterly.

"Riley, there's this new computer out. It's really portable and you can carry it wherever you go. It's called your 'brain'. You should try using it." Riley smiled sarcastically and went back to the video cameras.

Then after it was almost over, their video feed went dead while Ben was in the Preservation Room. "Ben, I have nothing!" he said urgently. "Get out of there. Get out of there, now," he ordered.

"_I'm gonna take it out in the elevator," _he said.

"Is it heavy?" Riley stuttered not knowing what else to say. Suddenly and out of no where, multiple gunshots went off.

Mia jumped about a mile and she said, "Ben? Ben, are you there?" Dead air. "Ben?" she whimpered eyes filling with tears.

--

A/N: So I thought this would be a good place to end it. Good? Bad? Boring? Just let me know. Or not. It really doesn't matter. I just do this because I'm bored.


	6. On the Run

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Short, sweet, and to the point.

A/N: Here's another one. Review if you want to, but I don't expect them.

--

Finally after what seemed like forever, Ben replied. _"I'm in the elevator. Ian's here. There was a shooting." _

"I hate that guy," both Mia and Riley muttered simultaneously.

Riley then cleared his throat and Anna looked down to find she had clutched Riley's hand in a death grip. "I kind of need the blood to flow there."

She quickly pulled away, looked down and said, "Sorry."

Ben emerged from the Archives as Riley muttered from the driver's seat, "Where are you, Ben?"

_"Stop talking,"_ he ordered, finally walking out of the building. _"Start the van."_

"Ben," Riley said noticing the other woman walking up behind him. "The, uh, m-mean Declaration lady is behind you."

Him and her had a few exchanges before Mia got extremely impatient. "Stop flirting and get your ass in the van!" she whispered fiercely. The alarm for the Archives went off and Mia put a hand to her head. Mia soon saw Dr. Chase running back to the building yelling 'Security'.

"Drive," Ben said getting into the van.

"We can't just let her go!" Riley protested.

"We can!" Be yelled. "Go!" A large food van drove up to Dr. Chase's side and Ben said, "Wait, wait." One of Ian's men emerged from the car and Ben said, "Oh, bad. Oh, bad," and he got out of the car.

"Ben!" Anna yelled. "What the hell are you doing?" But he didn't listen to her. Instead he tried to make his way over to the blond woman crying out for help. Several gunshots soon rang out and the driver's side window shattered. Riley shoved Mia's head down to prevent her from getting hit by the flying bullets. Neither saw what had become of Ben.

Fortunately he jumped into the car and yelled, "Follow them!" The terrified Riley obeyed and sped towards their enemy, trying to save someone whom they didn't even know. They drove after them turning when needed and as they drove, Mia saw they were about to drive over a construction site.

When they drove over the site, the workers had to jump and leap out of the way of the two speeding vehicles. "Sorry!" Mia yelled out of the open window to the now angry cursing workers. "Sorry!"

As she turned to face the windshield again she saw the back doors open and Abigail clinging onto them for dear life. "Oh, my God!" Mia said.

"Holy Lord," Riley offered.

Ben instead of being horribly stunned by what was happening he said, "Get me next to her!" Riley complied and he tried to reach for her. Just before their hands could meet a truck decided to drive by causing Riley to veer of coarse. Again, Ben tried to reach for her but the door swung too fast. Ian grabbed the document she had in her hand when she swung back to the van even with her objections. Shaw pulled out his weapon and began shooting again. Finally on the third try, Ben was able to pull Abigail into their own van to safety.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"What?" she said stunned.

"Are you all right?" Ben repeated.

"Still a little on edge from being shot at but we'll be okay. Thanks for asking," Riley supplied sarcastically.

"No, no, no those lunatics-!" she shouted.

"Are you all right?" Ben asked.

"You're all lunatics!"

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

"What?" she said again. "No. I'm not all right. Those men have the Declaration of Independence!"

"She lost it?" Mia and Riley said in unison.

"They don't have it," Ben said getting up. "I do. And would you please stop shouting?" He showed her the paper. As she made a grab for it, he snatched it away.

"Give me that!" she yelled.

"You're still shouting," Ben said. "And its really starting to annoy. You would do well Dr. Chase, to be more civilized in this instance."

"If this is the real one, what did they get?" she asked as Ben slid next to Mia in the front seat.

"A souvenir," Ben answered. "I thought it would be a good idea to have a duplicate. Turns out I was right. I actually had to play for the real one and the copy so you owe me $35 plus tax," he smirked.

"You're a genius, you know that?" Mia asked with a smile.

"I've been told," he smiled back.

"Who were those men?" Abigail demanded.

"Just the guys we warned you were gonna steal the Declaration in the first place," Ben said.

"And you didn't believe us," Riley added.

"We did what we had to do to keep it safe," Ben said.

"Verdammt!" she shouted. "Give me that!"

"You're shouting again," Mia pointed out.

"I'm pretty sure she was swearing too," Riley added as he continued to drive.

"Well we probably deserve that," Ben smirked.

"There is not a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence!" she yelled.

"And there's no chance anyone could steal this either!" Ben shouted shaking the container holding the Declaration angrily. "I level with you 100%. Everything I told you was the truth."

"I want that document Mr. Brown," she ordered. Mia waited to see how Ben would get out of this one.

"Okay, my name's not 'Brown'," he said. "It's 'Gates'. I level with you 98%."

The curator was stunned into a silence. She then said, "Wait a minute. Did you just say "Gates?' 'Gates?'" Mia and Ben rolled their eyes knowing what the reaction was going to be. Riley listened intently having no idea what was coming. "You're that family with the conspiracy theory about the Founding Fathers!"

"It's not a conspiracy theory!" Ben and Mia said in unison.

"Per say," Riley muttered.

Mia replied to this with another slap to the arm. "Ouch! One day, you are so going to give me a bruise!"

"Maybe then you'll learn your lesson," Mia replied cheekily.

"Maybe I'll just go to the police and file an assault charge."

"Wow, you're a wimp," Mia said. "You can't even handle a tiny slap. Makes me appreciate battered wives more." All the while during this argument, Ben and Abigail had been having their own.

"You can't seriously intend to run chemical tests on that back of the Declaration of Independence in the back of a moving van," she protested.

"We've got a clean room environment all set up," Riley said. "The whole sha-bang."

"Really?"

"We can't go back there," Ben muttered.

"Why?" Riley asked.

"I sort of... used my credit card to pay for the Declarations..." he trailed off.

"A credit card slip?" Riley yelled. "Dude we're on the grid!"

"For the second time in a week, Riley's right," Mia agreed. "They're gonna have your records from forever. They're gonna have my records from forever! Hell, they're gonna have Riley's records from forever!"

"I know. It's only a matter of time before the FBI shows up at my front door," Ben muttered.

"Oh, my God," Mia mumbled. "This can't be happening."

"It is," Riley replied.

"Was I talking to you?" Mia snapped.

"Sorry. I guess I just wanted to say something too. The FBI is also going to check up on me as well."

"Well guess what? I don't care!"

"RILEY!" Ben shouted. "Take a right and get of the road." Riley obliged and pulled into grassy park area.

Ben hopped out of the red van and began to pace in the green grass in the cold of the October night. "Ben you know what you have to do," Riley said, from his seat.

"I'm just trying to think of something else we could do," Ben replied.

"Well, not to be a, uh, nudge," Riley began. "But you do realize how many people we have after us. We probably have our own satellite by now."

"Thank you Riley for adding that very helpful comment to an already stressful situation, making it even worse!" Mia shouted.

"You have the original Silence Doogood letters?" Abigail asked. "You steal those too?"

"Damn it, Ben," Mia said, getting out of the van as well. "You told her about the letters? This is jut gonna add to all of the unnecessary questions."

"You don't think I realize that now?" he asked. "I have scans of the originals," he directed towards Abigail. "Quiet please."

"How'd you get scans?"

"We have magic powers a made them appear out of thin air!" Mia said sarcastically. "How do you think we got them? We know the person who has the originals."

"Now shush," Ben added.

"Why do you need them?" she asked.

"Lady! Seriously! Do you not have a sense of self-preservation? I have already committed grand larceny and kidnapping and I'm probably going to jail the rest of my life. Please don't make me add murder to the list and go to hell as well! Shut up if you know what's good for you!"

"I didn't mean to insinuate something-" Abigail began.

"She really can't shut her mouth, can she?" Mia yelled. Riley shrugged absently and Ben turned Mia around.

He gently pushed her towards a tree and said, "Calm down." He then got out the Declaration and gave it to Abigail. "Here. I will let you hold onto this if you promise to shut up. Please. Thank you."

"It took you all of two seconds to decide to steal the Declaration of Independence..." Riley said.

"Well guess what?" Mia shouted from the tree. "He didn't think he'd have to personally tell our father about it!" Abigail chose that moment to try and escape with the document. Mia dropped to the ground with an exasperated sigh and buried her face in her hands. Tears stung the back of her eyes but she forced them back. Now wasn't the time to cry. When she was alone... maybe. But not here in the park.

"Mia?" someone said quietly and lightly touched her shoulder. When she looked up, she found Riley standing over her, a worried look on his face.

"What?" she said, appearing to be annoyed.

"You're sitting in the middle of a field with your head in your hands," Riley said frustrated. "Forgive me for thinking something was wrong."

Her expression softened as she said with much less venom in her voice, "I'm fine. What is it?"

"Ben wants to go," he said, his voice also a little calmer. "He said we should get a jump on it before your dad goes to bed."

"Oh, that- that man is no longer my father," Mia muttered as she got up.

"I know you have some serious issues with the guy, but I bet if you just talked them out with him, it wouldn't be so bad."

"You say that now, but what happens when we get into another fight? What happens when he doesn't listen or... something else?" she whispered fiercely.

"I...I don't know," Riley said. "Let's just go." Riley followed her slowly to back to the van where Ben and Abigail sat already inside. "Hey," he called. "If you ever want to talk, I..."

"I know, Riley," Mia replied with a small smile. "Nothing's changed." Riley smiled back and they got into the van.

--

And so said subsequent events happened as such. Mia was very upset by what her brother had been doing, as she later told me. To be honest, I was afraid for Ben too. He was my best friend and was trying to steal one of the most protected documents in human history. How was I supposed to feel? And more guns. I've been shot at since (as you'll find out later) but that first time... well, it was scary. Flying bullets don't normally fair well. I too later figured out that Mia really did intend to kill Abigail if she had not stopped talking. I probably would have helped her too.

To this day I still don't know why Mia had such a problem with her father. I actually think she wanted someone to blame for everything that happened and he was the easiest one to do so .The stay at her father's would not be a fun one...

--

A/N: So there it is. Review if the inspiration strikes you.


	7. Family Affairs

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. Except Mia. But she doesn't really count...

A/N: So here's another one. Have fun... Review if you want but you don't have to.

--

Just outside of their father's house, Ben pulled Mia off to the side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Ben," she replied. "I'm probably going to jail the rest of my life and I have to see my father again, but other than that, I'm good."

"Mia, you're my sister. I know something deeper is wrong here. Maybe you should wait in the car," Ben told her.

"I'll be fine. Let's just go and get this over with," she said walking off to the front door. Ben could tell something was bothering her but when she was ready to talk, she would. That was Mia for you. Stubborn to the core when it came to sharing her feelings. That is... except to Riley. He was the only one who could get her to talk without waging an all out war. And Ben didn't understand it at all. They fought all the time... Incessant, nonstop arguing yet she would tell him anything and trust him to keep it to himself. What would happen if she really pissed him off? Would he tell someone something personal? He wouldn't do something like that... at least, not the Riley Ben knew.

Riley and Mia's relationship was the only puzzle Benjamin Gates couldn't seem to figure out. He watched from behind as Riley lightly nudged her shoulder with his and asked a silent question. She nodded her head in a silent answer and they both gave each other a small smile.

Taking a deep breath, he turned back to the issue at hand. His father. He didn't really blame him. His mother left because of the treasure hunting. He just didn't understand why Mia and her father didn't get along. Ben and Patrick got along fine... except for the whole disagreeing about the treasure thing...

His finger lightly touched the door bell and the familiar ding-dong rang throughout the house. On the other side of the now slightly ajar door stood Patrick Gates. He was in his mid-fifties, greying hair and stood just a hair shorter than Ben.

"Dad," Ben said.

"Where's the party?" he asked good naturedly, seeing Ben and Abigail's clothes.

"We just came from there," Ben replied.

"What are you doing here?"

"You see, I'm in a little bit of trouble."

"One of them pregnant?" he asked as he nodded towards Abigail and Mia.

"Well, if they are, are you gonna leave the women carrying your grandchildren out in the cold?" Ben asked. Abigail looked appalled at what he was suggesting and Mia look livid. Their father nodded mutely and stood aside as the four trekked into the house.

"This better not about that dumb treasure," he whispered as Ben walked past him. "Amelia," he said as she walked past.

"Patrick," she spat to him, walking past.

"Make yourselves at home," he said. "There's some pizza that's still warm... I think." Riley made his way directly to the pizza box while Mia stood in the corner with her arms crossed tightly and eyes glaring daggers at her father, as if she was trying to kill him just with her eyes.

"Dad," Ben said, "I need the Silence Doogood Letters." He didn't even wait for his father's response when he said, "Yeah, it's about the treasure."

"And they dragged you two into this nonsense?" he said pointing to Abigail and Riley.

"Literally," Abigail muttered to herself.

"I volunteered," Riley said, holding a piece of pizza.

"Well un-volunteer," he said. "Before you waste your life."

"Knock it off, Dad," Ben said.

"Sure, I know. I'm the family kook! I have a house, job, health insurance. At least I had your mother, for however brief a time. At least I had you two. What do you have? Him?" he asked pointing to Riley who was shoving a second piece of pizza into his mouth.

"Oh, please," Mia muttered.

"Amelia," Ben said using her full name, "quiet." He only did that when he was angry with her. "Look, if you just give me the letters we're gone."

"You disappoint me Ben," he whispered.

Ben's face acquired a very hurt expression when he replied, "Well, maybe that's the real Gates Family legacy. Son's who disappoint their fathers."

"Get out," he said. "Take your troubles with you."

Ben paused before saying, "I found the_ Charlotte_."

"The Charlotte?" he asked suddenly very intrigued. "You mean she was a ship?"

"Yeah and she was beautiful," Ben said.

"Until Ian 'Howe stupid can you get' blew it up with us still inside..." Mia muttered while rolling her eyes.

Her father didn't hear the comment made but pressed on, "And the treasure?"

Ben hesitated for a second then said, "No. But we found another clue that lead us here."

"And that will lead to another clue and that will lead to another clue!" he shouted angrily. "There is no treasure. They say the treasure was hidden to keep it from the British. But what really happened was the treasure was invented to keep the British occupied. The treasure is a the myth."

"I refuse to believe that," Ben said.

"Well you can do what you want, you're a grown man," Patrick said.

"He's right," Abigail said. "You don't even know if there is another clue."

"Well, I know we can find out and we can find out right now," Ben said. He sent Riley and Abigail to get lemons and cotton swabs while he lingered to speak to Mia. "Are you all right?" he asked gently placing a hand gently on her elbow.

"Peachy," she said sarcastically. "Never been better."

"Mia, please talk to me," Ben begged.

She stood silently for a moment then said, "I'm just stressed. I mean, we stole the Declaration. We're on the run from the FBI and now we're here at Dad's. I think I just need to sleep."

"Well, go sleep. I can wake you up when we find something," he offered.

"And miss the feeling of being there when you do find something? Not on your life," she said smiling. Ben smiled and they walked to the dining room.

--

"Looks like animal skin," Patrick said as he watched from the doorway. All four of them had geared up and were ready to find out if all the trouble they went through was worth it. "How old is it?"

"At least 200 years," Ben replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty darn," Ben said cheekily.

Riley turned their attention back to the problem at hand. "Now if this is invisible ink, how do we look at it?"

"Throw it in the oven," Patrick suggested.

Everyone made it quite clear that they couldn't do that. Patrick insisted they needed a reagent and Ben suggested he go to bed. The man said he was fine and walked away.

It was then Ben decided he was going to check the map. At first he tried to squeeze an entire lemon on it when Abigail grabbed his wrist. "You can't do that," she said.

"My, my," Mia interjected. "Ever the controlling one, are we?"

Ben ignored her and said, "But it has to be done."

"Then someone who's trained to handle antique documents is going to do it." Ben agreed and she took the lemon from him. "Now if there is a secret message, there'll be a symbol in the upper right hand corner." Just as she was about to swab the area she whispered to herself, "I am so getting fired for this."

The rest of the group waited for something to happen and when nothing did Mia sighed heavily. Patrick then interjected and said, "I told you. You need heat."

"How do we do that?" Abigail asked.

Mia scoffed and said, "Move," and shoved her out of the way. Abigail stumbled slightly and shot a glare over her Mia's way that could melt a glacier. Mia ignored this and bent down and exhaled onto the paper. The heat from her breath revealed a small Templar symbol and she smiled. "That is how you do that."

"We need more juice," Ben said.

"We need more heat," Abigail complied. And they ran off to different corners of the house to get more supplies. After a grueling hour of hard work the finally got the cipher.

"Its not a map," Riley said. "Is it?" Patrick made a smart remark but Riley ignored him. "Are those latitudes and longitudes?"

"That's why we need the Silence Doogood letters," Mia said.

"That's the key?" Abigail asked.

"The key in Silence undetected," Ben said. "Dad can we have the letters now?"

"Could someone please explain to me what these magic numbers are?" Riley said, frustrated.

"Chill, Riles," Mia said.

"It's an Ottendorf cipher," Abigail said.

"Oh, okay," Riley said. "What's an Ottendorf cipher?"

"Essentially, its just codes." Mia walked over and pointed to the numbers Ben was writing down. "Each set of numbers corresponds to a word in a key. Usually a random book or newspaper article. But in this case it's the Silence Doogood letters. So it's the page number of the key text, the line on that page, and the letter in that line."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Ben complimented. "Can we have the letters now?" he asked. Patrick then launched into a stalling explanation of how they ended up with the letters. "Where are the letters?" Ben asked.

"I don't have them, Son," the man said.

"What?"

"I don't have them," he repeated.

"Where are they?" he asked after sighing a heavy sigh and falling into the nearest chair.

"I donated then to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia."

"Time to go," Ben said getting up.

He and Mia moved around cleaning up while Abigail sat still and said, "I still can't believe all this time no one knew what was on the back."

"On the back of what?" Patrick asked.

All four people tried to stop the man from looking at the document but it was too late. "Oh my God. Oh my God. This is Declaration of Independence!" he said. "You stole it!" he accused. Riley pointed his finger at Ben and Mia slapped his shoulder. Riley glared but Mia ignored him when she heard Ben try and counter their father.

"Dad, I can explain but I don't have time. It was necessary. And you saw the cipher!"

"And that will lead to another clue and that will lead to another clue!" he exclaimed. "There is no treasure! I wasted half of my life and now you've destroyed yours! And your sister's!"

"That's it!" Mia yelled jumping out of her chair. "I can't take it anymore! You keep telling us 'You can't do this! You can't do that!' Well I'm done! If that's how you really feel call the FBI and turn us in. It's not like you cared in the first place! God, I can't believe you!" And she ran out of the room and down the hall.

"Riley, go talk to her," Ben said.

"I'm not so good with giving advice," Riley objected.

"She doesn't need advice. She needs to vent," Ben told him. "Go." Riley nodded, and ran down the hall to the bathroom.

"Mia?" he called, lightly rapping on the white door between them. "Mia, open up. It's just me."

"Go away, Riley," she said, her voice muffled by the door blocking her from him. "Just leave me alone."

"I can't do that," he said. When she still didn't respond he ordered more forcefully, "Amelia, open the door." When she didn't reply again he added in a softer tone, "Please?"

The tiny gold lock clicked and the white bathroom door slowly opened revealing Mia's tear-stained face. "What?" she asked with a small voice.

"What's up?" he asked, entering the bathroom himself. "Are you okay?"

"No!" she shouted immediately. "I am not 'okay'! My dad is flipping' bipolar. One second he like 'Oh, get out of my house!' and the next he's like 'I can't believe you ruined your lives.' Like he cares! He only gives a shit because we 'dragged him into all of this'! Not to mention I'm going to jail and I... I just don't know what to do." Her hands covered her eyes as she backed up to a wall and started crying. Riley, having done this a few times before, wrapped his arms around her and rocked slowly back and forth in quiet to calm her down. When she sucked up the last of her tears, she said using his nickname, "Thanks, Riles."

"You feel better?" he asked.

"Yeah," she whispered.

"Good," he said. Looking down he joked, Look, you got my shirt all wet."

"Bastard," she muttered, yet had a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Come on," he said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Let's go see what Ben's up to." Mia nodded and they walked out of the bathroom.

--

Walking in on Ben tying Patrick Gates up was an interesting experience to say the least. I don't really know how Ben came up with that... I think he may have been an ex-con or something in a previous life. We did figure out that Patrick rolled on us after we got a decent head start. Thank God. If he did just after we left... We'd all be in prison and that wouldn't be fun at all.

Then we stole his car. Yep, Ben was defiantly an ex-con...

--

A/N: There's another one. Hope you like. Review if the inspiration strikes you...


	8. Tell Me Something I Don't Know

Disclaimer: I own nothing. It's kind of sad.

A/N: Here's another chapter. Enjoy... Review if you want. You don't have to.

--

As of ten minutes ago they were safely away from the Gates house after tying him to make sure the FBI didn't suspect him of anything. "Your dad's got a sweet ride," Riley said trying to get comfortable in the backseat.

"We should probably change clothes," Ben said to Abigail. "It might look kind of conspicuous, don't you think?"

"I'd love to go shopping too but we have no money," Riley said cheekily.

"Here," Mia said leaning forward. "I took this from his house. Since I'm already going to jail for robbery a few hundred dollars shouldn't make that much of a difference." She tossed the small book to Abigail.

"'Common Sense'," she said reading the title. "How appropriate."

"When are we going to get there?" Riley complained. "I'm hungry. This car smells weird."

"Shut up!" Mia barked. "You are so annoying!"

"That's kind of the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?" Riley retorted.

"Ooh, nice comparison Riley," Mia said sarcastically. "You do have a brain. A small one but one none the less. That's good to know."

"That's very nice coming from the girl who can't think on her feet."

"Oh, I beg to differ."

"Start begging."

"You really want to go there?"

"Bring. It. On."

"RILEY! AMELIA!" Ben yelled. "If you two don't stop this now I will drop you off and you'll walk to Pennsylvania."

"Sorry, Ben," they said together.

Mia then laid down in the back seat and put her head on Riley's lap and her feet on the window. "I hope you don't mind being my pillow." Without waiting for his answer she said, "Good," And closed her eyes.

"I don't think it matters if I did object," Riley muttered bitterly as he tried to get into a more comfortable position with the girl's head still on his lap.

"Nope," Mia whispered. "Stop moving!" she said fiercely.

"Well, it wouldn't be annoying if you just sat on your side of the car," he muttered.

Mia opened her mouth to say something else when Ben interrupted her, "Mia don't even think about it. You do and I will have no problem tossing you and Riley out of the car and have you fight there."

Mia nodded and didn't say anything else. "Ha! You just got yelled at!" Riley said.

"Riley that means you too," Ben supplied.

Both said, "Sorry Ben," again and then they both drifted into a deep sleep.

"Are they always like that?" Abigail asked when she was sure the younger two were asleep.

"Unfortunately," Ben sighed as he pulled into a new lane. The red tail lights made the road in front of glow and there was a shortage of oncoming headlights. "And yet, he's the only one who can get her to talk without literally forcing it out of her. I don't get it."

"Maybe, she's in love with him..." Abigail said thoughtfully.

Ben laughed. "Mia in love with Riley? Are you serious?"

"Oh I'm dead serious," Abigail said. "I've see it dozens of times."

"In movies maybe," Ben replied. "This isn't a movie."

"Maybe, he's in love with her..." she suggested.

"Again, this isn't a movie. I don't think so."

"Okay then..." Abigail said skeptically before she too drifted off to sleep.

--

"E...o...f...p...a," the school kid read off. Riley took his pencil and wrote down the letters the kid he had enlisted for help told him. Actually, it was Mia's idea to have a kid help them as it would look suspicious if two grown-ups were staring at a few letters for hours on end.

"Okay," Riley said. "Here's another dollar and another five letters. Go get them, chief."

"You know what I realized?" she said as the little African-American kid ran away.

"What?" Riley said unenthusiastically.

"We always get lumped together. What is up with that? It's never just me by myself or you by yourself. It's always Ben by himself and I'm stuck with you." Riley kept his mouth shut and listened to her talk. Most of what she was saying just went in one ear and out the other. "You know what else?" Mia said.

"What?" Riley said again in the same monotone he used when he was bored.

"You know like everything about me. How come I don't know anything about you?" Riley shrugged but didn't say anything further. "Oh, come on, Riles. Tell me something I don't know."

"Apples, onions, and potatoes would all taste the same to us if they had no smell," he said. She sighed and looked at him, eyes begging for a real answer.

"Look I don't really care what it is as long as you tell me something I don't already know about you," she replied. "So come on tech boy. Astound me with your secrets."

Riley licked his lips and sighed. "Okay," he said. "All right. I'm gonna tell you something I've never told anyone before, not even Ben." He stopped as if trying to find the right words to say what he wanted. "My... My family... My family was murdered." His head hung low and he didn't go on.

"Riley, you can't just say something like that and not continue," Mia told him, mouth open. "What happened?"

"It was a warm summer day when I was six," he started off, "We, uh, got home one day and I walked in only to have someone grab me from behind and put a gun to my head. The man threatened to kill me if my parents and siblings didn't do what he said. His partner came down the stairs and told them to sit at the dinner table. When they did, he taped them up with the duct tape in his hand. Then, they taped me up too. After we were all secure, they started taking all of our stuff out of the house and loading it into their own truck just outside. When they finished, the man with the gun came back in, put the gun to my dad's head and..." he trailed off, struggling to keep his emotions in check. "...he shot him. Just like that. In front of all of us, he blew his brains out. He then shot my mother, then my brother, and my sister." A solitary tear ran down his cheek and his lip trembled. "I watched them all die. Before he could shoot me, the police burst through the door. Apparently the neighbor had seen them going in and out and called the police." He sniffed and then said, "I guess I always wondered if I hadn't been the first to go in, or if we had stayed out just a little bit longer... Maybe it would've changed something."

"Riley," Mia said softly, "I don't think anything really would have changed what happened." Her hand gently touched his cheek and he looked at her with sad eyes.

"Sometimes I wonder if would have been better if he had killed me..." Riley mumbled looking back down.

"Please, don't say that," Mia begged. She got down off the bench and kneeled in front of him. Her hands found their way into his and she said, "If you had been killed, I wouldn't be here either. I wouldn't have made it through. You are apart of this team and I wouldn't want it any other way. Honestly Riley, you're one of the best things to happen to me or Ben." Tears ran freely down his cheeks now yet he still tried to hide them and hold them back. "Riles, no matter how much we fight and argue and bicker, I'll always be here. I do care. I care a lot. More than I should, actually. I know you're there for me. Let me be there for you." He nodded smally and she pulled him into a tight hug, which he returned ten-fold.

"Thank you," he said in a watery whisper.

"Always."

After a few seconds he said, "Here's our little spy." Mia chuckled at his use of words but let go anyway.

"S...s...a...n...d," he told them. "No, N," he said as he watched Riley write down the letters.

"That is an N," Riley retorted and sniffed.

"It doesn't look like an N," the boy said.

"Now you're sure this is right?" Riley asked. The little boy gave him 'the look'.

"I think he's sure," Mia said.

"Okay, one more dollar," he said handing the boy the bill and a slip of paper. "Go get the last four letters. Go get 'em."

As soon as the boy was out of earshot, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he replied.

"That was a pretty big bomb you dropped. Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he whispered. "I promise. Can we focus on the puzzle now?"

"Sure."

"Okay," he said reading the bottom of the paper. "'The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of pass and...' That's it."

"'Pass and...' what? Four letters long... 'Pass and' what?" Mia said. As they thought a bus rolled in front of the Franklin Institute. On it was a picture of...

"Stow!" the both exclaimed at the same time. "The Liberty Bell!"

"Let's go tell Ben," Mia said getting off the bench, Riley following quickly afterward. Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks.

"What the hell?" Riley asked almost running into her. He moved his gaze to where Mia was staring and saw Ian and his cronies walk out of the building.

"How'd he find us?" Mia whispered.

"I don't know," Riley answered.

"We have to leave here inconspicuously," she said trying to walk away. Riley apparently didn't know what the big word meant and he tripped over a barking dog letting out a yelp. Mia looked over and saw one of Ian's guys saw them and began running over.

The girl grabbed Riley, pulled him from the ground and said, "Run!" Like a puppy Riley obeyed and the ran to the park where there were many places to hide. When they came to a fork, Mia and Riley ran different ways. Realizing her mistake, she changed directions and tried to find Riley while keeping and eye out for Ian's man.

Something suddenly clamped over her mouth and yanked her into the bushes. As she tried to escape from her capture, she heard someone hiss in her ear, "Stop moving! It's me!"

At the sound of Riley's voice she stopped struggling and started to say something. His hand clamped tighter and he gestured beyond the green foliage. Ian's guy, who Mia recognized as Phil, was looking around near where they were hiding.

Finally, he walked away, looking defeated. Mia licked Riley's hand to get it off of her mouth. "Eww!" he exclaimed wiping it all over his jeans.

"You'll live," Mia said getting off the ground and dusting herself off. "We have to get to Ben. He's probably almost done shopping with Barbie."

"That's an interesting nickname," he said picking himself up off the ground.

--

I don't really know what made me tell Mia about what happened to me, but I did. Maybe my subconscious was telling me she deserved to know or something...I don't know. I'm not good at that psycho mumbo jumbo. But I told her. And she told Ben when it came up. I wasn't mad, actually, which surprised me.

But back on topic, we did figure out the clue. More words to lead to more events you can never change... Typical...

--

"Did you get it?" Ben asked as he saw his sister and Riley appear at the entrance.

"Oh, we got it," Riley said with a triumphant smile.

"But not before you tackled me to the ground," Mia muttered.

"Well if you had just followed me in the first place, I would have had to tackle you," Riley objected.

"Correct," Mia agreed, "but if you took any heed to the meaning of the word 'inconspicuously' we wouldn't have had to hide in the first place."

"So it's all my fault?"

"Yeah, it is!" she replied. "I mean, look at these grass stains." She gestured to her knees. "I will never be able to get these out! Because of you!"

"WHAT," Ben started, "was the clue?" he asked, quite frustrated. People shopping in the department store were starting to stare at the bizarre quartet when Riley began reading the clue.

"'The vision to see the treasure past comes as the timely shadow crosses in from of the house of Pass and Stow.' Now Pass and Stow of course referring to-"

"-the Liberty Bell," Ben and Abigail cut him off.

"Why do you have to do that?" Riley asked.

"They are smarter than you are, Riley," Mia said.

Riley was about to respond when Ben cut him off. "Don't even think about it."

"She started it!" Riley replied.

"I do not care who started it, I'm ending it," Ben said. "God, I feel like a stressed out father whose children never listen to him," he muttered.

After a pause, Riley asked, "So what does the rest of this mean?"

"Ben, I've thought about this," Mia said. "'The vision to see the treasured past' must refer to a way to read the map."

"But I thought the cipher was the map," Riley said shaking his head.

"No," Ben replied. "The cipher was the way to find the way to read the map."

"And the way to read the map comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the Liberty Bell," Abigail said.

"Crosses in front of the house of the Liberty Bell," Ben corrected. "Independence Hall."

"Timely shadow must mean a specific time," Abigail said.

"What time?" Riley asked trying to get in on the puzzle solving.

"What time..." Ben repeated.

"Ah," Mia said, a smile appearing on her lips. "Remember that water bottle trick Gramps showed us?" Ben smiled as well as he moved to the cashier.

"You're gonna love this," Ben told Abigail."Can I see one of those one hundred dollar bills I paid you with?" he asked the woman.

"No," she said shaking her head.

"Oh," Ben said. "Well, I have this diver's watch. It's called a submariner. I dive with it. It's actually quite valuable. You can use it as collateral," he said taking off his watch.

"Whatever," she replied taking his watch and removing a bill from the drawer. It was obvious she really didn't want to be there.

"Thank you," he said. "Now on the back of a hundred dollar bill is an etching of Independence Hall," he began to explain, "based on a painting done in the 1780's, thank you," he added to the cashier," and the artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklin. It's wonderful," he said, obviously excited.

"Fascinating," the cashier stated monotone.

"Hold this," he said to Abigail handing her the Declaration. Before he let go, he stopped and looked her in the eye.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said with a smile.

"Now," he said picking up a water bottle, "I think if we look at this clock tower, we may find the specific time." He pressed the bill onto the water bottle.

"What do you see?" Mia asked.

"2:22," he replied.

"What time is it now?" Abigail asked.

"Almost three," the cashier replied looking at Ben's watch.

"We missed it," Abigail said.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Mia muttered.

"No we didn't," Riley said. "We didn't because..." He paused waiting for them to interrupt him. "Wait, you don't know this?" he asked with a grin on his face. "I know something about history that you don't know!"

"But I'd be very excited to learn about it Riley," Ben said, very unexcited.

"Wait, let me just... Wow this feels cool. Is this how you feel all the time? Except for now, of course-"

"Spit it out, tech boy, or I'll force it out," Mia said violently.

"All right," he said. "What I know is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War One. If it's three PM now, that means in 1776 it would be two PM."

"Riley," Ben said with a huge grin, "you're a genius."

"Don't get used to it," Mia said.

"Do you know who the first person to suggest daylight savings was?" he asked.

"Benjamin Franklin!" Ben and Abigail called back. He stomped his foot in anger and Mia patted his shoulder.

"Told you," she whispered. Riley merely rolled his eyes.

--

Oh, how I loved knowing something they didn't. My one shining moment and Mia had to ruin by saying it was the only one I got. Which was true... but didn't help at all.

Sometimes I miss the good old days at Tech Support where I was always right... As opposed to now...where everyone knows more than I do... Man this sucks...

--

A/N: Well... There you go...


	9. A Lucky Break But an Unlucky Escape

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. I wish it was...

A/N: So here's another one. It should be pretty exciting... I think. Review if you want to. Thanks for reading.

--

The quartet walked along with a tour group. As they passed the tower, Ben, Abigail, Riley and Mia turned a corner to climb the winding stairs up to the bell. Everyone else was too interested in the tour to see them slip away. Quickly and without words, the climb the stairs until the reached a trap door. Ben opened it up and climbed onto the landing. Wind blew from every direction as Riley asked, "What bell is this?"

"It's the Centennial Bell," Ben said.

"It replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876," Mia added.

"There is is," Abigail said looking over the edge to where the tower cast a shadow.

"All right," Ben said, "I'm gonna go down there and you three meet me in the signing room. Okay?"

"You mean I just climbed all those stairs for nothing?" Mia asked still slightly out of breath.

"Getting a little out of shape, are we?" Riley teased.

"Maybe..." she replied, not letting a normal sarcastic comeback of hers slip out. Ben quirked an eyebrow at the bizarre exchange. He made a mental note to ask Mia about it later, after he found what they were looking for here.

"Let's go," Abigail said, pulling an out of breath Mia along with her.

As soon as they reached the signing room and Mia sat down, Ben walked back in. "What'd you score?" Riley asked. She sighed but stood up to look at what Ben found.

"I found some kind of ocular device," Ben said with a smile. He pulled out a pair of ancient looking glasses from his coat. "A vision to see the treasured past? Let me take that," he said to Abigail taking the Declaration. He pulled it out of the case as Riley, Mia, and Abigail examined the glasses.

"They're like, early American X-ray Specs," he said twirling them around in his hand.

"Benjamin Franklin invented something like these," Abigail pointed out.

"Uh," Ben replied, "I think he invented these."

"So what do we do with it?" Riley asked.

"We're gonna end world hunger! It spontaneously regenerates food, shelter, and love!" Mia said with a fake smile. Her face then put on an 'are you serious' look and she said, "What do you think we do with glasses, stupid?"

"We look through it," Ben supplied. _Well at least she's back to fighting with him... _Ben thought. Abigail helped him unroll the Declaration and Ben let out a sigh.

"What?" Riley asked, suddenly alarmed.

"It's just, the last time this was in here, it was being signed," he said with a smile. Both Mia and Abigail smiled along with him but Riley seemed unfazed.

"Ben, there's another tour coming," he said.

"Turn it over," Ben replied with a toss of his head.

"Careful!" Abigail said, worried it was going to rip. As soon as it was slipped Ben held out his hand.

"Spectacles," he said. Riley handed them over and he looked through it.

"What do you see?" Abigail asked.

"What is it? Is it a treasure map?" Riley asked excitedly.

"It says 'Heere at the Wall' spelled with two e's," he said taking off the glasses. He held them out in front of him. "Take a look." Both Riley and Abigail made a grab for them at the same time with Abigail coming out victorious.

"I'm gonna keep watch," Mia whispered lightly touching her brother's arm. Ben nodded and watched as Abigail's expression changed into awe.

"Why can't they say: 'go to this place. Here's the treasure. Spend it wisely'?" Riley asked rolling his eyes.

"Oh, Riles," Mia said slightly opening the blinds, "because that would be too easy. And where's the fun in that?" When she glanced out at the street she saw someone she didn't expect. Both Phil and Shippen were outside looking around. "Oh crap," she muttered.

"What?" Riley asked as Ben and Abigail rolled up the document. "How'd they find us?"

"Damn!" Mia said. "That little kid rolled on us! The last letters were S T O W. Ian probably bribed the kid like we did. Dammit!" she cursed angrily. "I can't believe we didn't think of that before."

"She's right," Ben said. "Ian has nearly unlimited resources. And he smart."

"I don't think we can get out of here without being spotted," Abigail pointed out darkly.

"Well we don't want him to have the Declaration or the glasses but we especially don't want him to have them both together," Ben said.

"So what do we do?" Riley asked.

"Separate the lock from the key," he replied not putting the tube inside the carrying case. "We're splitting up."

"Good idea," Abigail said.

"Really?" Riley asked.

"Yes. I'll take this and those," he said referring to the document carrying case and the glasses, "you keep that," he added referring to the actual Declaration. "Meet me at the car and call me if you have any problems."

"Like if we get caught and killed?" Riley asked, with a worried look on his face.

"Yeah, that would be a big problem," Ben said.

"Not morbid at all Riley," Mia muttered.

"Take care of her," he said.

Riley, Mia, and Abigail said, "I will," at the same time. All three looked at each other in confusion as to who or what Ben was talking about.

"I'll go out first. Wait over there," he instructed. Before Mia could walk away to where Riley and Abigail were, he pulled her to the side.

"Why are you being so nice to Riley?" he asked in a whisper.

"What?" she said furrowing her brow.

"When we were up on the top of the tower, you didn't spout out a sarcastic comment when he insulted you. And some of your comments are nearly as evil as they could be. So I repeat, why are you being to nice to Riley?"

She raised her eyebrows and said, "I don't think now's really the time."

"Fine," Ben sighed, "but we're talking about this later."

"Whatever," she said walking away. Sometimes he wondered if he really was related to that girl.

--

Don't get me wrong, I love the hunt. I just don't love the puzzles that go along with it. Or the bad guys who'll do anything to get it. I didn't want to be chased but I sort of knew that it would happen eventually.

I'm guessing you're sort of getting tired of me interrupting the story huh? Well, sorry. Since I'm the one telling it, I think I deserve to put my input in. Considering I didn't get to do it when we were actually there. Okay that didn't sound right...

I just... Oh, never mind. Back to what you want...

--

"Let's go this way," Abigail said steering them away from where Ben was going. All three walked normally like there was no one following them until they heard someone pushing through the crowd. Shaw and Victor had spotted them and Mia stopped.

"Riley..." she said.

"Time to run!" he announced, trying to shove his way through the mass of people. The reached the door to a large store and all ran inside. Both Abigail and Riley tried to choose a way to go, but neither followed the other. Riley stopped because he knew Abigail wasn't behind him anymore. He went to go the other way, but Mia caught his arm.

"We don't have time. We'll find her later."

"So what do we do now?" he asked, jogging after her.

"Hide," she replied. They ran until they were in a nook in the store where several groups of teenagers were making out, oblivious to everything around them. "Uh..." she said stopping. "Maybe we should go back..."

"No time," Riley said looking over his shoulder and seeing Victor. He flipped the hood from his jacket and pushed her up against the wall so his back was to the entrance. He put his arms up to block her face and moved in closer so it looked as if they were a young couple that was supposed to be there.

"What are you doing?" she whispered her own face dangerously close to his own.

"Shut up!" he hissed. "Put your arms around my neck," he ordered. Complying, she inadvertently pulled him closer to her. She could feel him panting, both his chest moving up and down and his warm breath on her neck, from all the running they had been doing. There were footsteps that got closer and closer to them. At first Riley thought they would be caught. _Turn around _he desperately thought. _Please turn around!_ As if someone was listening to him, the footsteps faded and Riley quickly pulled away and put his hood back down.

"That was a close one," Mia breathed._ In more ways than one... _she thought.

"Completely," he agreed, not knowing she was thinking the same thing he was. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"No, it's fine. Actually, it was a pretty good idea," she admitted.

"I have my moments," he shrugged. "Let's go find Abigail."

--

Uh... Well, this is awkward. I'd actually rather not talk about this one... How about we just move on... Heh heh...

--

Sure Abigail realized Riley and Mia was following her, but that wasn't her priority at the moment. She was trying to hide from the guy who was trying to kill her. As quick as she could, she leaped over a counter and sat with her knees up to her chest. "If you're not a stake, you don't belong here," an African-American woman told her.

Still out of breath Abigail answered, "I'm just trying to hide from my ex-husband."

"Who?" she asked. Spotting Shaw she asked, "Baldy?"

"Yes," she whispered, still terrified.

"Honey," she began, "stay as long as you like."

"Thank you!" she said. Looking through the glass she saw Shaw. He had his hands on his hips slightly pushing his jacket away revealing a concealed weapon. Abigail closed her eyes and tried to control herself. All the while she heard the lady talking.

"Do you want something?" she asked. "Do you want something?" she wondered again when Shaw didn't answer.

"Shut up," he snapped running away.

The lady turned to Abigail and said, "I see why you left him." Abigail couldn't help but let out a relieved chuckle. As soon as she was sure he was gone, she jumped out from behind the counter and hid next to all the flowers.

Suddenly, someone touched her shoulder. She let out a shriek until she realized it was Riley who tapped her. Because of he shock she didn't notice however, how red both his and Mia's faces were. Instead she asked, "Where were you two?"

"Uh, hiding!" he answered. "Come on," he said leading the two girls out of the store.

--

I really loved hearing about this from Abby. I seriously was about to die when she said that the lady told her she'd seen why she left him.

I suppose now that you know what the three of us were doing, you'd want to know what Ben was up to.

--

Ben walked calmly and pretended not to know someone was following him. He crossed the street and saw a bus pass behind him. As soon as he was on the other side of the street, he ran, hard and fast.

The honking of car horns told him that the men following him were aware he was running and were trying to catch him. Faster and faster he ran until he met a dead end. Almost literally. Grave stones lined the inside of the gates and he opened them and ran in. Unfortunately, one of the guys pulled out a gun and stated shooting.

Like James Bond, he dived behind a headstone, to try and escape the shots. As he was catching his breath, another guy snuck up until he was almost right beside him and started shooting again. He ran as fast as he could out of the cemetery and hid behind the wall. When Shippen came around the corner, he slammed the document case in his face, then punched him in the jaw sending him to the ground.

But, it was just his luck that Phil sped around the corner and started running towards Ben. "Oh, come on!" he moaned through gritted teeth as he started running again.

The next gate he came to was locked so he ran around another corner. He came to another gate and ran up the fire escape. Bullets flew but luckily didn't catch him. Ben never thought he'd be running across roofs to get away from a guy trying to kill him. He ran as far as he could until there was no where else to go but down.

"Gates!" Phil yelled. "Give me the document, man!"

"All right, Phil," he answered taking off the case. He threw it, so it almost fell off the roof then made a run for it. Phil didn't catch up to him and he was finally free of the lunatics trying to kill him.

--

Unfortunately, we didn't have the same luck Ben had. We didn't give the two thugs the slip and they followed us until we reached just past City Hall. Things went downhill fast from there.

--

Mia was far ahead of Riley and Abigail. After she crossed the street, she looked back to see Riley had been hindered by a group of businessmen. Abigail was speeding towards the intersection and an unsuspecting cyclist. "Abigail!" she yelled in warning.

But it was too late. She slammed into the cyclist and dropped the Declaration into the middle of the street. Mia watched in awe just as a car was about to run it over. However, it barely missed it. Abigail quickly stood up and tried to make a grab for it, but a huge semi truck was speeding to the crosswalk. Mia didn't see what had happened to her because strong arms picked her up from behind.

"Hey!" she screamed. "Put me down!" When she looked around she saw Ian smile and wave, as Phil carried her to the car on the side of the road. "RIL-" she started but a hand clamped over her mouth.

She struggled against her attacker, but it was no avail. Thinking fast, she bit Phil's hand. Over a curse, she screamed, "RILEY! Help me!" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Riley start to run towards her but his arm was caught by Abigail. With a pained expression she yelled something to him and he ran away. But she didn't see which direction they ran because she was quickly thrown into the car.

As soon as the door closed, Shippen started to drive away. Mia started kicking and screaming and flailing her arms. "Let me out of here!" she yelled. "Let. Me. Out. Of. This. Car!" she ordered smacking the back of the driver's chair. Her hands flew to the door handle, but found that the child lock was on. Banging on the window, she screamed for help.

"Will you shut her up!" Shippen yelled. "I can't drive if she keeps screaming like that."

"I'm working on it," Phil said yanking her back from the window. It didn't help much, because she screaming louder and flailed more violently. His arms tightened around her body, but she freed on of her arms anyway. Her elbow flew up sharply and came into contact with the black man's nose with a sickening crunch. Immediately he let her go and she started banging on the back of his chair again.

"She broke my nose," Phil said examining the blood on his hand. "The bitch broke my nose!"

"I don't care if she shot you!" Shippen shouted. "Shut her up, or I'm going to crash the car!"

"I'd like to see you try and drug her!" Phil shouted trying to get anther grip on the furiously struggling and shouting girl.

"She's five three and a hundred twenty pounds!" he argued back. "How hard could it be?"

"Well, half those pounds are muscle man," he replied. "Come help me!" he ordered after more of the same struggling. "It'll go by much smoother!"

"Fine!" he yelled pulling the car to the side of the road. Putting it in park, he climbed into the back seat and held her legs down.

"Hold her arms!" he ordered. "I can't get the rag is she's clawing my face off!" The Scottish man did was he was told and she wasn't cooperating even in the slightest. She was going to make this as hard for them as possible.

"Hurry up," he said straining to keep his hold on her.

Finally he got the rag in hand and was trying to press it over her protesting mouth and nose. Mia had other plans. Her head contorted and shifted different ways so he couldn't get the rag over her mouth. "You know what?" he said roughing grabbing a handful of hair. She let out a sharp yelp as her head was yanked back almost parallel to the floor. "I am done playing around with you. You broke my nose, so I'll pull your hair. Sit still or it's gonna get worse." Mia didn't comply and struggled, if it was possible, even harder.

"Okay," Phil said. "Don't want to play nice?" The last statement was directed towards Shippen. "Where's that tazor?"

"Why didn't we think of that in the first place?" he wondered aloud. "Under the seat," he replied. Phil reached under and grabbed the small gun-shaped tazor. As he pulled the trigger, he let fifty thousand volts flood into the girl he was pinning down. Mia screamed in pain and stopped moving long enough for Phil to successfully clamp the rag over her mouth and nose. Muffled shouts made it through the rag until her eyes drooped. Try as she might, she just couldn't stay awake. When she finally stopped fighting, even weakly, he let go of the girl and sighed.

"It's about time," Shippen commented.

--

A/N: So there you go. Review if the inspiration strikes you.


	10. Hurt and Anger

Disclaimer: Nothing you recgonize is mine. I only own Mia.

A/N: So here's another chapter for you. Review if you feel the need.

--

Riley tried to get through the crowd of businessmen that didn't see to want to move. He watched in horror as Abigail dropped the Declaration of Independence. Sure he teased Ben about having so much care for a piece of paper but when it really came down to it, that stupid piece of paper was actually very important. Finally, he managed to free himself and sped to her side. Seeing she was about to get run over, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to the ground. Still the Declaration remained intact, but someone he did not want to see picked it up.

Ian stood in front of them and he checked the inside of the case. Seeing the Declaration, he smiled wickedly. Shouts from behind him alerted them to the danger still present in the situation. As he stood up, he helped Abigail as well, but another shout, this one his name, told them they were missing a companion. "Shit!" he cursed.

When he looked around, his heart sank. Mia was fighting tooth and nail against Phil, who was carrying her to a car. "Mia!" she shouted. He was just about to run to her when Abigail grabbed his arm. "We can't just let them take her!" he said desperately.

"We have to unless you want to end up being kidnapped as well!" she shouted with a terrified expression. Riley gave in reluctantly and ran away from the person he was in charge of keeping safe.

After a few more minutes of running, Riley stopped and began to pace. "Oh, God. Oh, God, Oh, God," he whispered over and over again. "This is- Oh man, this can't be- Ahh!" he yelled in frustration.

_Well, on the bright side, I was right. He is in love with her_, Abigail thought dryly. "Riley," she said trying to calm him down. "I know. Okay."

"No you don't!" he shouted. She had never seen Riley truly angry before and to be honest, it scared her. His 'angry' was usually just wining about things he didn't like, but this... This was different. "You have no idea! You've only been here for a day. At most! You have no clue what that guy is capable of! And Ben- How the hell am I supposed to tell my best friend that I got his little sister kidnapped?"

"Riley!" she shouted. "You need to calm down."

"Calm down?" he asked with a forced chuckle. "This is the man who tried to blow us up because we didn't want to help commit a crime! He tried to shoot us! He's gonna do whatever it takes to get this treasure even if it means forcing information or help out of someone. He could torture her or- or kill her, or- even worse..." he finished while a hand ran through his hair.

Abigail didn't really know what to say. Riley was right. This man was capable of anything, even murder and Riley knew that. She could only imagine what Ben was going to say. "Call him," she finally spoke after an awkward silence.

"Okay," Riley whispered pulling out his phone. His fingers linger over the small buttons of his phone reluctant to call. But he did. Just before his finger pressed that little green button, his heart skipped a beat. Ben was going to be _pissed._.."Ben," Riley said the phone in his hand. He was going to have to tell him eventually.

"_Riley,"_ Ben said from over the phone. _"Are you all right?"_

"We lost it," Riley said. "We lost the Declaration. Ian took it." Ben didn't respond for a few seconds then he asked if they were all okay. "Ben, there is something else..."

"_What? Riley, is someone hurt?"_ Ben asked, very concerned.

"Not exactly..." Riley said, trying to avoid the inevitable.

"_What's going on?"_ he asked more forcefully.

"We lost Mia too," the younger man whispered.

"_What?!"_ Ben yelled.

"I'm really sorry."

"_Riley, Ian has my little sister and all you have to say is 'I'm sorry'? I trusted you!"_ he shouted.

"Ben, I... I tried."

"_Well, tried isn't good enough! Ian could be killing her right now! Or worse! He could be torturing her or-or..."_

Riley knew what he was getting at and even the thought horrified him. She couldn't go through that. Not again. And not because of him. Not because he couldn't save her."Ben I-"

"_Meet me at the car,"_ Ben snapped as he cut him off. The venom was clear in his voice as Riley's best friend hung up the phone.

"Riley," Abigail said. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," he sniffed, shoving her out of the way, tears threatening to fall, both from being yelled at by Ben and losing Mia.

--

Having my best friend mad at me was one of the worst feelings I've ever had. I knew I let him down and I knew that it was my fault if she got hurt. When we did finally get to the car, Ben was being arrested by the FBI leading to several other problems. At that point, all I could see was darkness.

I didn't learn about exactly what happened to Mia until a few weeks after we found the treasure and I practically had to force it out of her. That is saying something. However, to save you the pain I felt, I'll tell you now.

--

Mia awoke, her head pounding. When she tried to bring her hand up to touch her head, she found that they were tied behind her back, which were tied to a chair. _I'm tied up. Crap. This is really gonna suck..._ she thought.

The chair was the only furniture in the small room. A door opened right across from her and Shaw walked in. "Good," he said, "you're awake." Without warning, his fist slammed into her cheek with a sickening crack. If her nose wasn't broken yet, a slight jostle would get it there. "That was for the punch down in the Charlotte," he said. "And this," he said, sending his fist into her stomach knocking the wind out of her, "was for broken nose you gave Phil.." His arm pulled back to hit her again, when Ian walked into the room.

"Stop," he ordered. "We need her alive."

"I wasn't going to kill her," Shaw stated.

"We need her conscious," he revised. "Hello Mya."

"It's Mia," she said annoyed. "Why can't you get that right? It's really not a hard name to remember."

"I wouldn't mouth off if I were you," he warned.

"Well, it's a good thing then. I mean that you're not me. Because if you were me, I'd be pretty ugly." Ian's own fist came into contact with her jaw.

"Do not mouth off to me."

"You know, there isn't much incentive when you hit like a girl," she said spitting red blood onto the grey concrete floor.

"How about I give you a little more then," he said. Shaw walked over to the door and opened it a sliver. Patrick Gates's head poked through the small opening. His eyes widened as he saw his daughter chained to a chair. Shaw closed the door and Mia struggled against her bonds.

"You do anything to him and I swear to God I'll-"

"You'll what?" he asked moving closer to her. "I could do whatever I wanted to you..." he said standing behind her. His hand found the button to her pants and he tugged on it. Her eyes closed as his cold hand ran up her stomach lifting up her shirt. Bile rose in her throat but she tried to swallow it down. "...and you wouldn't be able tot stop me," he chuckled. His nose touched her neck and she turned her face away from him trying to contain her tears.

"However enticing," he said moving away from her, "your body is not why I've brought you here. What was on the back of the Declaration?"

"A Cipher," she said, technically telling the truth.

"Anything else?"

"No," she lied. Ian motioned and Shaw hit her again.

"Want to revise that?"

"No," she said again. A fist came into contact with her rib cage.

"Is that so?" Ian asked.

"It said 'Heere at the Wall'. That's it," she moaned.

"How did you see it?"

"I didn't." Shaw hit her again. "Glasses," she choked out. "Ben has glasses."

"What does it mean?"

"I don't know." Shaw hit her stomach. "Please!" she begged. "I really don't know." Ian's henchman was about to hit her again, when Ian's phone rang.

"Oh, look. It's Riley. This should be fun," he said evilly. "Hello Riley." He said a few things to the man on the other end and then held the phone out to Mia. "He wants to talk to you. By the way, if you say anything about what we did, I will find him, bring him here, and kill him in front of you. Is that what you want?" Mia shook her head.

"_Mia?"_ Riley's voice said floating through the phone. _"Mia are you okay?"_

"I'm fine, Riley," she lied keeping her eyes glaring at Ian.

"_They haven't hurt you?"_ he asked, clearly frightened.

"No," she said. "No they didn't. I'm fine, okay."

"_Okay,"_ he sighed. _"Don't worry, we're gonna get you out of there all right?"_

"All right," she replied. "I'm counting on you, Riles." At this Ian snatched the phone away and started talking to what sounded like Abigail from where she was sitting. She tried to move to a more comfortable position, but Shaw placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't even think about it," he growled.

Finally, Ian finished talking on the phone and snapped it closed. "Well, it looks like we won't be needing information from you anymore," he said.

"So kill me already," she spat.

"But, you are great leverage," he said taking out a knife. Stepping behind her, he took her bindings and cut them. But before she could rub her sore wrists, something slammed into her forehead sending her to the ground.

Lights danced in front of her eyes when something made contact with her stomach several time knocking the wind out of her. As she gasped for air, he grabbed her hair and dragged her back to the chair in the middle of the room. Coughing and trying to regain her breath, Ian retied her hands and sighed.

"Clean her up," she heard him say. "I want them to be able to see those bruises." Then both Ian and Shaw exited the room leaving Mia alone to try and ignore the pain and the tears that formed in her eyes.

--

To hear what that...man...had done to her nearly made me burst into tears. I had no idea it was that bad. I mean, her face look aweful, but the kind of threats he made to her were just horrible. She was only there for a few hours and he threatened to kill her, rape her, kill me in front of her, and gave her several bruised ribs, plus a broken nose and cuts all over her face.

When I saw Ian, I literally wanted to kill him. But Abigail held me back from doing it. I was scared of myself, to be perfectly honest.

--

"What are we gonna do?" Riley asked shaking his head. "What are we gonna do?"

"Riley, shut up," Abigail snapped. "I need to think. Come on." She led him to a small bench in front of a fountain. Riley sat with his head in his hands while Abigail paced back and forth behind him.

"Riley," she said, finally stopping. "Do you know hoe to get in touch with Ian?"

"Excuse me?" he asked looking up at her. "Do you not remember our previous conversation about that man? This is the guy who kidnapped Mia, who tried to blow us up, then shoot us. Or do you just get your jollies out of talking to psychopaths?" he snapped bitterly.

"I know what we're gonna do. Just tell me how to call Ian!" she shouted. "You're mood is not gonna help me!"

"I am not giving you his number until you tell me exactly what you want to do with it," he said adamantly.

"Fine," she barked. "Ben is in FBI custody. Helping someone escape from federal custody os a criminal act. Who is the only criminal you know?" she asked.

"Ian," he responded.

"Exactly," she replied. "I'm gonna call Ian and try to make a deal. He'll help Ben escape from the FBI and we'll... give him the treasure..."

"Sorry to rain on you're parade, but we don't know where the treasure is," Riley pointed out. "And we don't have anything to find where it is. The FBI has the glasses and Ian has the Declaration...and Mia," he added softly.

"We just have to convince him we know where it is. If he thinks we do and we'll hand it over if Ben escapes and we get the Declaration back, he'll take it. You said it yourself, Ian will do anything to get the treasure. Maybe this will be that anything."

Riley thought about this for a moment then sighed, "Okay. But before we tell him anything, I want to talk to Mia."

"Okay," Abigail replied. "Can I have his number now?"

--

Even though, I gave into her demands, I didn't think it would work. Something in my gut told me it wouldn't even if it looked like it would.

Ben's situation was worse than ours however. He had been arrested by the FBI... And Sadusky wasn't very believing of his story either.

--

"That's some story," FBI Agent Peter Sadusky said to Ben. His greying hair was gelled back in a very professional manner. He was clad in a standard FBI suit, just like all of the agents around him. His hands were folding in his lap as he stared directly across from him at his suspect, the man he assumed had stolen the Declaration of Independence. Where he had it, Sadusky didn't know.

Ben rolled his eyes for the fourth time that conversation. "It's the same story I tried to tell you before the Declaration was stolen."

"By you," Sadusky added.

"No, by Ian," Ben said. "I stole it to stop him. I did it alone. Dr. Chase was not involved. And Ian still ended up with the Declaration of Independence...and Mia," he said looking down. Thoughts of his sister in the clutches of Ian had been running through his head all day. Just the thought that he might be hurting her made tears sting the back of his eyes. He promised he wouldn't let her get hurt again. And now because of Riley Poole, he couldn't keep that promise. Although, he really shouldn't have yelled at the poor kid. Losing Mia was a tough thing but adding to it, Ben and told him directly that it was his fault. He probably felt worse..._ Serves him right for letting her go..._ he thought bitterly. But something else tugged at his heart. The care for the kid he had made him feel guilty for blaming him. But it was his little sister.

The conflicting thoughts continued their rampage as Sadusky continued. "Because of you."

"Look, you don't think I feel bad enough about this already?" Ben respond with justified anger.

"Why does Ian Howe have your sister?" he asked.

"I told you, he's using her as leverage. I'm the only one who can solve the clues and he knows that. He's using her to get me to do whatever he wants," he said softly.

"I'll tell you what," he said. "Here's your options. Door number one: you go to prison for a very long time. Door number two: You're going to help us get back the Declaration of Independence. You help us find it. And your sister. And you still go to prison for a very long time. But you feel better inside."

"Is there a door that doesn't lead to prison?" Ben asked.

"Someone's got to go to prison, Ben," Sadusky replied. Taking another look at the glasses on the table, he asked, "What are these for?"

"It's a way to read the map," he replied.

"Right," he responded. "Knight's Templar. Freemasons. Invisible treasure map. So what'd it say?"

"'Heere at the wall'," Ben replied. "Just another clue," he repeated his father. But as he watched Sadusky flip the lenses around more thoughts swarmed into his head. When they ever got too crammed, he sorted through them using logic. He tried to picture exactly what he saw. _Damn!_ He thought. _Mia's the one with the photographic memory... _After a few more minutes of thought he thought he saw something. _Wait... There was a symbol behind the words. _"There's more to it..." he mumbled aloud. The shrill ring of his phone brought him out of his trance.

Judging by the way the agents were scrambling, he assumed it was Ian. "Yes?" he answered.

"_Hello Ben,"_ Ian said. _"How are you?"_

"I'm chained to a desk," Ben replied. "And I really don't think you should be making small talk considering you're the one holding my sister hostage."

"_Don't you worry about her right now Ben. She's unharmed,"_ he said._ "I want you to meet me on the flight deck of the USS Intrepid. Do you know where that is?"_

"New York," Ben responded.

"_Meet me there ten o'clock tomorrow morning. And bring those glasses you found at Independence Hall. Yeah, I know about the glasses. We can take a look at the Declaration and you and your sister can be on your way,"_ he informed them.

"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Ben asked skeptically.

"_I told you from the start, I only wanted to borrow it. You can have it, and the glasses. I'll even throw in the pipe from the Charlotte."_

"And what about Mia?" Ben asked.

"_You can have her too,"_ Ian said.

"I'll be there."

"_Good. And tell the FBI agents listening in on this call, that if you want the Declaration and not just a box of confetti, not to mention your sister unharmed, you need to come alone."_ And he hung up the phone.

Ben swallowed hard, knowing that he was about to become part of a trap for Ian Howe. And he didn't know how that would work out for his sister.

--

A/N: So there you go. I'm pretty sure I got everyone in there... Review if you want to. Thanks if you do. ;)


	11. Reuniting Sort of

Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize from National Treasure is mine. I only own Mia.

A/N: This is going to be a shorter one but the next one is going to be long. And it'll be funnier... Maybe. I guess it depends on your sense of humor. Any who, here you go. Review if you want to. Thanks for sticking with me this far... If you have... If not... that's okay. I know there's a lot of these kinds of stories out there. I'll live.

--

Ben moved slowly about the large ship in New York City, waiting for something to happen. Just walking around with nothing to do but wait was seriously killing him. Not to mention the constant direction of Sadusky in his ear. _"Gates, stay with the program," _he said. The dude just wouldn't shut up!

"I hope your agents are under four feet tall and wearing little scarves otherwise Ian's gonna know they're here," Ben warned.

"_As soon as he shows you the Declaration we'll move in. Don't try anything," _he warned.

"And what about Mia?" Ben asked.

"_We'll get her location when we interrogate him,"_Sadusky said.

"Right," Ben said. "You know Agent Sadusky, something I noticed about fishing it doesn't work out so well for the bait." He wander aimlessly for another five minutes until a helicopter flew close to the deck. Ben put an arm above his head to try and see what was going on. All he could hear from the chip in his ear was garbled noise. Then someone he didn't expect started talking to him.

"Thomas Edison needed only one way to make a light bulb!" Shaw shouted over the roar of the helicopter. "Sound familiar?" Ben recognized the line. He had told Riley and Mia that the day in the Library of Congress. "Now, go to the observation point behind the F16 and here's what you do. Jump overboard. There'll be a diver in the water with an oxygen tank and a mask. He'll take you to New Jersey!" After giving the last of his instructions, he left just as quickly as he had come.

The garbled turned into words and he heard Sadusky asking questions to his team. They team made a few exchanges while Ben moved to the observation point. "Sadusky," he said, "I'm still not against you. But I found door number three and I'm taking it." As soon as he heard the agent telling his team to move in, he took a leap of faith over the railing and plunged into the water.

The bitter cold of the water hit him like a tone of bricks and he had trouble finding the diver that was supposed to be there. Suddenly, someone grabbed his ankle and shoved a mask in his face. He took a deep breath of oxygen and held on as they sped through the murky water that was the Hudson River.

--

So, not only is Ben an ex-con, but he's friggin' James Bond too! I mean, he got to leap over the side of a ship and swim to New Jersey! All I could do was take a stupid car to New York. And it wasn't like I was doing the conversing with Ian. That was all Abigail.

I guess I sort of felt useless. But I did get to track the phone, so that was pretty cool... Maybe... Man, I never get to do anything really exciting... *sigh*

--

"Get in the car," Phil ordered. In the backseat, Mia noticed her father also seated. Slowly, she opened the door and climbed in. The other man slammed the door as soon as she pulled her leg in the car.

"Mia?" Patrick whispered. "Oh, my God, Mia. What did they do to you?" he asked turning in his seat to face her.

Mia turned away to face the tinted window, trying to ignore her father. "Mia, please," he begged. "I know you think I don't, but I do care. You're my daughter. Please."

Closing her eyes, she turned to her dad, letting him get full view of her injuries. "They wanted answers, and they were willing to do whatever it took to get them."

"So they tortured you?" he asked.

"Essentially," she replied.

"Honey, I'm sorry," he said softly. "I don't know what I did, but for whatever the reason, I am sorry. I do love you."

Tears welled in her eyes and she put a hand to her mouth. "I'm scared, Daddy," she whimpered.

Patrick pulled her into a hug and she buried her bruised face in his shoulder. "Everything's gonna be all right," he assured her. "Ben'll help us. I know he will." After sniffing she pulled back.

"Thanks," she whispered.

Gently, he brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. "You're my baby girl. I'm always here for you."

"How touching," a voice sneered as another door was opened. Both looked over to find Ian standing next to the ajar passenger's seat door. "Although, I don't think Ben's going to be much help at this point."

"You don't know him like we do," Mia spat. "He'll find a way to get justice for this. I know he will."

"Sure," he said with a smile. "Sure he will."

--

Hello Ben," Shaw said looking down at him as he climbed that latter out of the Hudson River. "Welcome to New Jersey."

Ben, dripping wet with the dirty water of the Hudson, climbed the latter and sloshed his way over to the car. "What'd you do with Abigail and Riley?" he asked.

"Hope these fit," Shippen said shoving a pile of clothes into Ben's hands. "We had to guess your sizes."

"What's you do with Abigail and Riley?" he asked again. "He's the only one who could have told you that line about Edison. And what about Mia? What'd you do with her?"

"All in good time," Shaw replied. "Did you bring the glasses?"

"I don't know," Ben said. "Tell me what's happening here."

"Ask your girlfriend," he said. "She's the one calling all the shots now. She won't shut up," he muttered angrily.

Ben let out a smile at the thought of Abigail trying to tell all these thugs what to do. But his smile faded when he thought of Mia. Was she hurt? Did Ian keep his word? If she was hurt, was it serious?

But his thoughts were interrupted when Shippen snapped, "We're leaving in five minutes. Change your clothes." Ben nodded not seeing another way out of the situation.

--

"He's leaving," Riley announced to Abigail. "They should be here in about twenty minutes."

"Okay," she said. "I'll call him when he's about five minutes out." Riley nodded and started to fiddle with his pen, his eyes downcast. "What is it?" she asked.

"I don't know. Something just feels wrong," he replied looking back at her. "Mia didn't sound like she wasn't hurt over the phone. And it feels like some how, Ian's gonna double cross us."

"Riley, everything will be fine," she assured him. "We'll all be fine. And I'm sure Mia isn't hurt." Riley nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm gonna call Ben now," she said. He nodded again and she picked up her phone and dialed Shaw's number.

He answered with a gruff voice, then handed the phone to Ben. "Hello sweetie," Abigail answered. "How's your day going."

"_Uh,"_ Ben answered._ "Interesting dear." _He cleared his throat then asked, _"So-so what, you're working with Ian now?"_

"It turns out helping someone escape from FBI custody is a criminal act. And he's the only criminal we knew. So we called him and made a deal."

"_You're..." _he started. _"You're all right. I mean, you're safe?"_

"Yeah," she replied. "We both are."

"_And Mia?"_

She hesitated for a second then said, "We don't know where she is, but we have talked to her. She said she's fine and I didn't see any reason why she would lie."

"_Okay."_

"Riley's right here doing something clever with a computer," she said.

Riley didn't show any enthusiasm when she held the phone up to his ear, remembering what happened earlier in the day. "I'm tracking you through the GPS in Shaw's phone. If they take a turn anywhere we don't want, we'll know it."

To Ben, Riley's voice sounded distant and uncaring. _I really hurt him... _Ben thought.

Abigail started to talk again and snapped him out of his trance. "If Ian tried to double cross us, we can call the FBI and tell them right where you are. And where to find Ian."

"_And where's that?"_

"Right across the street from where we're hiding," Abigail answered with a smile. "At the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway."

"_You figured out the clue,"_ he said, also with a smile.

"Simple," she said. "'Heere at the wall'. Wall Street and Broadway." After a pause, she said, "Ben, there is a catch. We made Ian believe he could have the treasure. It was the only way we could get this far."

"He's here!" Riley announced as his computer started beeping.

--

As soon as Mia and her father reached the point where they were going to meet Ben, Ian hopped out of the car, spouted off instructions, and walked to the other side of the road. Phil turned around, took out the duct tape and cut a few strands. "Give me your hands," he said to Patrick. The older man obeyed and his hands were soon secure. The African-American turned to Mia. "Are we going to have to go through what we did the other day?" he asked referring to his own nose. Mia clenched her jaw tightly shut yet held out her hands anyway. After what had happened in that small room, she was exhausted and didn't have enough energy to fight back and win. "Good," he replied. He wrapped the tape a little more tightly than he needed to. She winced slightly as the tape cut into her already sore wrists.

Phil smiled, opened the car door, and got out. Mia thought about trying to run, but remembered that the child locks on the doors were on not to mention Phil was standing just outside of her father's door. Even through the tinted windows she could see him standing in a protective manner, as if daring them to try something.

So she slumped back into her chair, knowing there was no other way out of her predicament other than Ben finding the treasure. And if he didn't find it soon, there were going to be deadlier consequences.

She watched her capture pace back and forth on the street, her mind wandering to other things. Where was Ben? He was coming right? How did he get away from the FBI? And what about Abigail and Riley? They had to be around her somewhere too. And Riley... she hated lying to him. Even over the phone it sounded like he knew she was lying to him. Thank God he didn't say anything about it. She didn't think she'd be able to lie more than a few times. Riley always seemed to know... And she couldn't very well tell the truth. She remembered vividly what Ian said he'd do to him and she couldn't handle that. It would have been to much. But she was almost positive that if she told him why she lied, he'd understand.

Another car drove up just as she finished these thoughts, and her brother got out dressed in something totally different than when she last saw him. _Come up with something quick Ben..._ she thought. _If you don't... I can guarantee it's not going to be pretty..._

--

A/N: Sorry it's so short, but there was a lot of other stuff I wanted to put in the other chapter and it wouldn't fit her without making it unbearably long. So I'll update soon. Review if you fell the dire need to.


	12. The Twisted Founding Fathers

Disclaimer: Nothing you know is mine. Only Mia...

A/N: So here's a long chapter for you. I think it's the longest one I've written so far. Over four thousand words for you. Review if you feel the need to.

--

"Ben!" Ian said as the other man got out of the car. "You all right? No broken bones? A jump like that could kill a man."

"Nah," Ben replied. "It was cool. You should try it sometime." Apparently Ian missed the hidden meaning in the statement because he didn't make a come back.

"The Declaration," he said placing the document on the top of the car, "and the Meerschaum pipe. All yours." People passed back and forth near them, but paid no mind to what was an escaped convict and a kidnapper.

"That's it?" Ben asked obviously skeptical. "And what about Mia?"

"That's it," Ian confirmed. "And all in good time. I knew you'd keep your promise. Now where is it? Where's my treasure?"

"It's right here," Ben said. "The map said 'Heere at the wall' spelled with two e's. Wall Street follows the path of an actual wall that the Dutch settlers built to keep the British out. The main gate was located at a street called Deheere. Also two e's. Later the Deheere street was renamed Broadway once the British got in. So 'Heere at the wall'. Wall Street, Broadway." Ben sighed, picked up the two items on the car and said in a fake British accent, "Cheerio."

"Just a moment Ben," Ian said rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Ian, if you break our deal, the FBI will be only a few minutes behind you," Ben warned. "You might get away, you might not."

"Is that all the map said?" Ian asked, trying to catch Ben in a lie.

Ben hesitated for a split second then said, "Every word."

Apparently he did catch him because he chuckled. "You know the key to running a convincing bluff?" Ian asked. "Every once in a while, you've got to be holding all the cards." He motioned behind him and Phil, which Ben noticed had a broken nose, opened a car door on the other side of the street. Patrick Gates leaned forward and met the eyes of his son.

"Dad..." he said with sad eyes.

"And of course we can't forget lovely Mia, now can we?" he asked with another flick of his hand. Phil then went to the other side of the vehicle, opened the door and grabbed Mia by the arm. He then brought her roughly around to the back of the car, where Ben could get a full view of his sister.

He saw her face was covered in bruised and she walked with a slight limp. "You sonovabitch," Ben whispered through gritted teeth. "I swear to God I'll-"

"I don't think you're in the position to be making threats," Ian said glancing back over to the car. Ben saw his sister close her eyes, so he looked down to her waist. Phil had a gun trained on her stomach. Ben stopped himself from doing anything stupid and Phil returned his sister to the car.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Ian asked.

"Trinity Church," Ben mumbled. "We have to go inside Trinity Church."

"Good. Excellent. Why don't you ask Dr. Chase and Riley to join us?" he suggested. "I'm sure they're around here somewhere..."

He closed his eyes and nodded, knowing all his friends were in danger. They walked to the other side of the street to where the large, intricate wooden doors marked the entrance to the huge Catholic church. "Just, let me talk to her," Ben begged just before they walked inside.

"Fiveminutes," Ian replied. Nodding to one of his henchmen, he brought Mia over and roughly tossed her to Ben. Her brother actually had to catch her before she fell to the floor from the force of the shove.

Up close, the bruises were very fresh and black and blue. There were a few cuts on her face and her nose looked the tiniest bit swollen. Ben also noticed when she took in a deep breath, she winced slightly as if it hurt to breathe. "Oh, God..." he whispered. His eyes scanning her injuries. "I am so sor-" he started but Mia cut him off with raising a simple hand.

"Do not say you're sorry. This is not your fault and I don't want you to feel like it is. Whatever he did to me, was not because of you," she stated clearly. "Besides, it's looks worse than it is. Ian hits like a girl," she joked.

"Mia, you're my sister. I know you're trying to make me feel better, but I know you're lying," he said. Her voice said no yet her eyes told him everything. Her eyes averted his and she blinked several times. He continued, "And I couldn't protect you. How am I supposed to feel?"

"A little guilty," she admitted, "but not to the point where you should think everything is your fault."

Ben nodded slowly and then looked her directly in the eye. "Did he- Did he do anything else..." he trailed off.

"No," she said as soon as she realized what he was getting at. "No he didn't. Thank God," she added, technically telling the truth. He didn't do it and that was all her brother needed to know.

"You'd tell me if he did though, right?" he wondered.

"Of course," she replied. "Of course I would."

Ben nodded and said, "You should probably tell all of that to Riley too."

"You didn't tell him it was his fault, did you?" she asked with a sad look in her eye.

"What do you expect?" Ben asked trying to justify himself. "I trusted him with you and he couldn't even keep you away from them."

"God, Ben," she said putting a hand on her forehead. "You know that he tried. Shouldn't that be good enough for you?"

"What if you had died? What is something else had happened to you?' he asked with as sad expression.

"Then it would have happened. And it would have been no one's fault except for my own. Okay? Don't forget to apologize to him. Because he'll keep thinking you blame him even if you don't." Ben nodded and Ian came over.

"Time's up," he said taking Ben by the arm. Shippen came over and grabbed Mia roughly and pushed her into a pew.

"No need to be so violent!" she hissed at the man. He responded with a tight grunt and a controlling hand on her shoulder as if daring her to make a move.

She then heard Ben say to their father, "Are you all right?"

"What do you think?" Patrick asked. "I'm a hostage!" Patrick was then shoved into a pew as well.

"Let them go Ian," Ben said.

"When we find the treasure," he replied.

"No now!" he ordered taking out the glasses and the pipe and shoving them into the blond man's arms. "Or you can figure out the clues for yourself. Good luck."

"Ben, I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation," Ian said. The doors to the church opened and Riley and Abigail were shoved through into their own pew. "Let's take a look at that map." Ben and Ian slid into their own pew, the former quite reluctantly, and Ben took out the Declaration and the glasses. He was the first one to put them on and he let out a stifled gasp. There on the back of the paper was another clue. It was a cross of sorts with strands of ribbon wrapping around it. On the ribbon there were words. It said 'Beneath Parkington Lane' and it confused Ben. They'd have to go somewhere else now? It just didn't make any sense.

"Well, it's- It's really quite remarkable. Take a look," he said handing the glasses to Ian.

"Parkington lane," Ian muttered.

"Beneath Parkington lane," Ben corrected.

"Why would the map lead us here then take us somewhere else?" Ian asked with a confused expression. "What's the purpose?"

"Just another clue!" Patrick yelled from behind them.

"Dad!" Ben yelled in warning.

"I just think the Founding Fathers were sick and twisted," Mia whispered to the man beside her. He rolled his eyes and told her to shut up. "Well!" Mia shrugged and turned back to listening what Ben was saying.

"You're right Parkington lane has to be here somewhere."

"A street inside a church," Ian muttered.

"Not inside, beneath. Beneath the church," Ben said. At this Ian ordered everyone to stand up and start towards a door on the other end of the church that lead to the boiler room. Mia hung back to talk to Riley, while still being watched by Ian's psycho assistants.

"Oh, man..." Riley whispered upon seeing her face.

"Don't you even think about saying you're sorry," Mia said shaking her head with her hand gently placed on his chest. "It is not your fault. Don't even think that it is. I already had this discussion with my brother. I do not need to have it with you so please don't make me."

"I'm sorry," he said against her advice.

"Riley..." she sighed. "I did this. I talked back to Ian. Me, not you." The young man sighed and nodded his head.

"But its not gonna stop me from feeling a little guilty," he replied.

"I know. Just don't beat yourself up. No pun intended," she added.

His smile returned and he responded, "Well, it's good to see your sarcasm wasn't affected."

"Nothing can affect my sarcasm. You of all people should know that one," she said. "Let's go look." Riley agreed and they wandered around the boiler room under the church.

When they reached a wall, Riley exclaimed "Hey! Hey, I-I found it!"

"Him," Mia corrected seeing it was a head stone. "Unless you know something I don't." Riley rolled his eyes pretending to be annoyed as everyone came over to investigate the find. In reality, he was happy she was acting like she normally did. But make no mistake, he was going to ask about it later on.

"Parkington Lane," Ben said running his fingers over the engraved words. "To a third degree, master Mason of the Blue light- Hey!" he shouted when Shippen came over swinging a hammer. He then proceeded to smashed the wall revealing a coffin. All the men, minus Riley took out the coffin from the tomb. Unfortunately, the bottom of the coffin wasn't strong enough to hold the body and it broke, sending the remains of the man splattering all over the floor.

"Careful no one steps in him," Shippen replied.

"Okay," Riley said. "Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?"

"You know, I'm starting to think the Founding Fathers had a really twisted sense of humor," Mia supplied.

"Why's that?" Abigail asked.

"We have to inside a tomb!" she said giving her a weird look.

"Beneath," Ben muttered.

"What?"

"Technically we have to go beneath the tomb," he elaborated.

"Oh, like it makes a difference!" she snapped. "Inside, beneath. I'd rather stay outside the tomb but, you know, that's just me."

"You're going in," someone said.

"Who says?"

"Me," Ian said revealing his gun.

"Just kidding!" she said. "Looks like I'm going down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb." Ben, being who he was, offered to go first and everyone was quick to agree.

"McGreggor, Victor," Ian said before Ben had a chance to climb into the passage way. "Stay here. And if anyone should come out without me... Well, use your imagination," he finished sinisterly. Mia held back a shudder, knowing exactly what their hostage taker was capable of.

Ben then took that moment to crawl into the tiny space followed closely by Ian, then Mia, Riley, Abigail, and Shippen bringing up the rear. When the tunnel widened out, he found in front of him a torch. "You have a light?" he asked Ian. Not to his surprise, Ian pulled out a lighter and clicked it on. The fire lit the torch quite easily and it illuminated the path in front of him.

The flame flickered off the stone walls as the strange crew went through the strange tunnel. They reached a part in the tunnel where there was a significant drop downward. It wasn't enough to kill you but it was enough to cause someone to trip. Ben lingered to make sure everyone got through okay. When Mia walked by, she held onto Ben's shoulder for support. "You okay?" he asked.

"Naturally," she replied with a small smile.

Riley was next. "Hey, Riley," Ben said. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I was frustrated that my sister was gone. I didn't mean to blame you. It really wasn't your fault."

Riley nodded with a smile and said, "I know you didn't mean it. If I was you I would have done the same thing. You don't need to apologize. But thank you though," he added with another smile. Ben smiled back and helped Riley down the ledge as well.

When Abigail passed by, he grabbed her arm, spun her around and kissed her. "It's about time," Mia whispered glancing behind her.

"What? You mean you're not jealous?" Riley asked.

"Nope," she replied. "Ben's my brother and I know no matter what, he'll always be my brother and no girl is going to change that. Not to mention I can tell they both really like each other. SO it figures he would finally kiss her. I was just wondering when he was going to do it. And now I don't have to wonder."

"I would have never thought of it that way," he mumbled.

Mia shrugged and heard Shippen ask in a sad voice behind her, "Why does that never happen to me?"

"Trust me dude, "Riley said. "You do not want us to answer that one for you." Mia chucked lightly in agreement.

All continued to walk down a dark and narrow hallway until they finally reached an opening. A large wooden structure was attached to a rope in front of them. Mia cocked her head to the side and stared at it curiously. Dipping her finger tips into what looked like oil, she figured out what it was. "Ben, hand me your torch," she asked.

Ben complied and she lit the substance in fire. The flames rushed around the wooden frame and Ian and Ben lowered it so they were able to see the entire room. It was a deep cavern with stairs lining the walls. "Look at the elevator system," Ben said in awe.

"Dumbwaiter system," Patrick added.

"How do a guys with a bunch of hand tools build all this?" Shippen asked.

"The same way they built the pyramids," Ben said.

"And the Great Wall of China," Mia added, she too looking around in awe.

"Yeah," Riley agreed. "The aliens helped them." Mia was snapped out of her trance and she gave Riley a strange look. "What?" he asked. "It's a plausible theory."

"Right," she said. "And dinosaurs aren't really extinct!" she said sarcastically.

But their fight was interrupted by Ian. "All right, let's go." He waited for Patrick to step out onto the stairs but he remained still. "What are you waiting for?" he asked.

"I'm not going out on that thing," Patrick retorted. "200 years of termite damage and rot..."

"Dad," Ben said. "Do what he says." Reluctantly, the eldest Gates walked out onto the rickety staircase. All of the crew slowly started their decent with Patrick first followed by Ian, Shaw, Abigail, Riley, Ben, then Mia coming up last.

As they walked the tunnel started to shake and Mia clung to Ben's shirt in fear. Gently, he laid a hand on her's and squeezed reassuringly. When the shaking stopped, Ian said, "Subway." Ben nodded and everyone started to move down the stairs.

There was a long crack from the old wood and Shaw fell right through the floor. Screaming, he plummeted to the black depths of the tunnel, until no one else could see him. There was another crack and the platform they were on started to fall.

Shippen launched himself at the nearest elevator, followed by Patrick and Ian. By some other miracle Ben, Mia, and Abigail found their way to another elevator. Riley had leaped to the nearest platform. "Mia!" Ben yelled. "Follow Riley!" She nodded and positioned herself to jump. But when she did the elevator's rope snapped and it fell from her feet, giving her no leverage. Coming up short of the platform, she grabbed for anything to keep her from falling. Finally she managed to cling to a wooden beam.

But because of the two hundred years it was untouched, it started to break. "Help!" she screamed. Then she felt someone grab onto one of her hands. When she looked up, she say Riley's worried face. Straining, he tried to pull her up.

"Mia, you have to let go of the platform!" he said.

"What?!" she yelled. "If I let go, I could fall!"

"I can't pull you up unless you let go!" he countered. "You're just gonna have to trust me!"

Mia seemed to think about this for a minute. "Okay," she said. Closing her eyes, she let go of the wooden beam. She let out a tiny shriek when she dropped a few inches only to have her other arm taken by Riley. Pulling as hard as he could, he helped her onto the platform and to safety. Both of them were breathing heavily as Mia was pulled onto the wood. Suddenly something else above them broke and started falling.

Acting on reflexes, Riley grabbed Mia, pushed her up against the wall, and covered her head as another beam smashed the front of the one they were standing on. After the dust cleared, Mia turned around and faced the man who saved her life again. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I think so," she replied, still breathless. "Thank you. You probably saved me."

"Probably?" he asked. "I totally just saved your ass," he joked and she chuckled. "Come on. Let's go find Ben." As they walked they heard Ben talking.

"I'm sorry I dropped you!" he said to Abigail. She was rubbing her arm as if she'd landed on it.

"It's fine. I would have done the same to you," she replied.

"Really?" he asked.

"I would have dropped you both!" Riley said. "Freaks."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't drop me," Mia whispered so only Riley could hear her.

"I would've never dropped you," he whispered back.

"Good to know." The elevator with Ian, Shippen, and Patrick slowly rode down to where Ben, Mia, Riley, and Abigail stood.

"Get on," Ian ordered.

"Ian," Ben said. "It's not worth it." He didn't want an body else getting hurt. The treasure wasn't worth dying over.

"Do you imagine that any of your lives was more important to me than Shaw's?" he asked. "We go on."

"Status quo," Patrick reminded his son. "Keep the status quo. Ben reluctantly told the other three to get onto the rickety elevator. Mia looked unusually pale in the dim light and was leaning on Riley for support. The other man didn't seem to mind, but looked rather pale as well. Abigail looked better than the other two. All were covered in dirt and dust from the struggle before.

The elevator slowly slid down into the dark abyss below them, no one knowing what they might find.

--

The tunnel, if that's what you want to call it, was...scary as hell. I was so terrified that someone I cared about was gonna fall down where Shaw fell and I'd never see them again. And to tell you the truth, I wasn't trying to be heroic. Mia was in trouble and I wanted to help her, so that's what I did.

We were safe for the time being. Little did I know, that was all about to change.

--

They finally slid down far enough to see a small platform that led into an opening. Ben and Riley tossed a rope over to a pole to pull the elevator closer to the platform. Everyone hopped off and into the tiny room. Mia lingered behind to speak privately to Ben. "So you have any bright ideas?" she whispered, making certain Ian couldn't hear her.

"I'm working on it. I'm thinking we give him a 'clue' if you know what I mean," he whispered back.

"What 'clue'?" she asked.

"Working on it," he replied.

"I'll work on it too then," Mia said. They all then moved into the room with the others. Ben lit the other lanterns in the room and it was...empty. The only thing in the room was a single lantern. "What is this?" Riley asked quietly. Mia silently shook her head, as if trying to figure out why they came all the way down here, while a convoluted plan formed in her head.

"So where's the treasure?" Shippen asked.

"Well?" Ian said expectantly.

"This is it?" Riley asked the two siblings. "We came all this way for a dead end?"

"Yes," Ben replied hoarsely.

"There has to be something more," he said trying to convince them.

"Riley, there's nothing more," Ben said.

"Another clue-"

"No there are no more clues!" Mia yelled.

"That's it!" Ben yelled as well. "It's over. End of the road. The treasure's gone. Moved. Taken somewhere else." Mia slid slowly down a wall nearest to her.

"You're not playing games with me, are you Ben?" Ian asked. "You know where it is."

"No," Ben said. Ian looked as if he was trying to figure out whether or not Ben was telling the truth.

"Okay, go," he whispered to Shippenand the other man ran back to the elevator. Ian followed quickly after and took the rope from around the pole, hit the leaver and it started to rise. Evidently, he thought Ben was lying. Mia began to see Ben's plan. This wasn't it and he was going to give Ian a fake clue... Ingenious really.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Ben said chasing after them.

"Whoa!" Mia said following her brother.

"You can't just leave us here!" Abigail said.

"Yes I can," Ian said. "Unless Ben tells me the next clue."

"There isn't another clue!" Ben explained again.

"Hasn't he told you that already?" Mia said.

"Look Ian, if you just come down here, we can talk this through together-"

But when Ian held up the gun and said, "Don't speak again," Riley shut his mouth. "The clue? Where's the treasure? Ben?"

Ian cocked the gun and Ben said, "Wait, let's talk about this!" Suddenly a gunshot went off, Ben stumbled and Riley fell to the ground. The younger man had shoved Ben out of the way of a speeding bullet. Riley was shot because he saved his best friend's life.

"Riley!" Mia shouted running to and kneeling down next to the unconscious man. Leaning over him, she checked to see if he was still breathing. A cold fear crept up into Ben's gut as he watched the scene develop before him. "Come, on Riley! Breathe!" he heard her yell. Suddenly Ben realized what was happening, before Mia even said it and it nearly made his heart stop. "Riley, no!" she shouted. Her hands trembled as they tried to find a pulse in his arm. "There's nothing!" she said. "I can't find a pulse. Oh, God," she whispered standing up. "He's dead!" she whimpered.

A/N: Oooh, cliffhanger. And it's not like one in the movie. Don't I feel smart. You want to know what's gonna happened? You're gonna have to keep reading. Review if you want to.


	13. The Opportune Moment

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. Nothing but Mia.

A/N: So here's the rest of the cavern sequence. It's pretty intense if you ask me. Review if you want to but its not necessary.

--

Turning to Ian, she shouted, "You kill him, you sonovabitch!" And she charged towards him. Ben caught her around the middle before she could attack the blond man. "No, no, no Ben! Let me go!" she shouted hysterically, atempting to claw her way out of Ben's iron hold. "You killed him! He killed him! He killed Riley!" Finally, she stopped trying to go for Ian, and collapsed to the floor, sobbing and still whimpering, "He's dead. He can't be _dead_..."

Truth be told, Ben wanted to kill Ian too. His best friend just took a bullet for him and it killed him. He tried to keep his emotions in check, not to satisfy Ian more then he already was. But he was dead... It couldn't be true... Not Riley. Not like this...

"Now tell me the next clue, or the next person with a bullet in them is your lovely sister," Ian said interrupting Ben's thoughts about his now late best friend.

He cocked the gun again and their dad said, "The lantern."

"Dad," Ben said. "Don't."

"The status quo has changed Son," he said referring to Riley. "It's part of Freemason teachings. In King Solomon's temple there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. The lantern is the clue."

"And what does it mean?"

"Boston," Ben said with a hoarse voice trying to keep the tears in. "It's Boston. The old North church in Boston where Thomas Newton hung a lantern to signal to Paul Revere that the British were coming. One of by land. Two if by sea. One lantern in the Old North Church in Boston. That's where we have to look."

"Thank you," he said raising up the elevator.

"Wait!" Patrick yelled. "You have to take us with you!"

"Why?" Ian asked with a smirk. "So you can escape in Boston?"

"What if we lied?" he asked.

"Did you?" he said raising the gun again.

"What of there's another clue?" Ben asked.

"Then I'll know right where to find you," he said. "See you Ben." And he rode away on the elevator.

"NO!" Ben yelled.

"There's no other way out!" Abigail shouted.

"You can't just leave us here!" Mia shouted. As soon as Ian was out of earshot Ben turned to face his best friend on the cold stone floor.

"Oh, God I'm so sorry Riley," he whispered.

"Don't get all sappy, Ben," someone said behind him. To his surprise, it was Mia.

"What are you talking about? Don't get all sappy? Riley's dead! You were just hysterical!" he shouted.

"He's not dead," Mia said.

"What?" Ben asked genuinely confused.

"He is not dead," Mia said again, kneel back down in next to Riley. "Hey, Riles. You can open your eyes now," she said gently placing a hand on his cheek. He moaned and did as he was told. Ben stood in shock as to what was happening.

"What the hell...?" was all he managed to say.

"Okay, so when I was checking to see if he was breathing," Mia started to explain, "he was and I told him not to get up. I felt like we needed more incentive to tell Ian where the next 'clue' was. And to quote a famous pirate, I found the 'opportune moment'. If he thought Riley was dead, then we thought he killed someone and he could do it again. That was he felt like he was forcing it out of you without him getting suspicious as to why you gave it up so easily."

"Wow," Ben whispered. "That's-that's a really good idea. And you gave an Oscar worthy performance there. I mean, holy crap. I thought he was actually dead."

"Well, that was kind of the idea," Mia said shrugging her shoulders and sniffing. To make it seem real she actually did cry and her nose was rather stuffed up. "Ben could you give me something to tie around his waist to stop the bleeding?" she asked. Ben nodded and took off his jacket and handed it to her. Mia then took it and wrapped it tightly around Riley's waist to stop the bleeding. It didn't fully stop but it was good enough to last for a while. "Hey, are you okay?" Mia asked the now awake Riley.

"Peachy keen jelly bean," he mumbled, "except for the fact I was SHOT! Of course I'm not okay! What kind of a stupid question is that? My side is gushing blood and you're asking me if I'm okay... What is wrong with you?"

"He's fine," Mia announced flatly.

"Riley," Ben said. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"Okay, now I'm really confused," Abigail said. "I mean, first Riley's not really dead. He just pretended to give you guys more incentive to tell Ian the clue. But the clue doesn't even make sense in the first place. The British came by sea. It was two lanterns not one," she pointed out.

"Ian needed another clue so we gave it to him," Patrick said.

"It was a fake clue. And by the way, I'm sorry I didn't jump in there. I just didn't want to break out of my despair because of Riley's 'death'. I mean, I'd seem kind of odd if I just started spouting off a clue when I just started to go insane," Mia clarified, while trying to help Riley up. "Okay, dude, you seriously need to help me. I'm strong but not that strong."

"Sorry," Riley said as he winced.

"It's all right kiddo," Patrick said to his daughter.

"But," Riley said to Ben, "when Ian figures that out, he'll come back and kill us all then. Either way we're going to die."

"No one's going to die, Riley," Ben said. "There's another way out...through the treasure room." He pressed a button and the all popped open and led them into another room. Mia supported Riley as he struggled to keep the moans of pain in.

"Sorry," she said.

"Its all good. My side hurts like hell but I'm not dead yet. And it just looks like a graze anyway. A deep one, but there's no bullet in there so... And as soon as we find the way out, I'll go to the hospital, get stitches and I'll be fine." Riley said.

"That's always a good thing," Mia joked. "How do you know so much about wounds now? When we met you knew squat."

"Well, after I saw that I may need it to save my own life some day, I took a class. And books were helpful too," he replied.

"Well, that is something I did not know about you, Riley." He chuckled lightly and limped into the next room. When they entered, they sadly found it empty.

"It looks like...someone got here first..." Riley said. His eyes clamped shut and he let out a low moan. Mia moved him to a ledge where she made him lie down. Ben, Abigail, and her father kept going on about how Ben was right. Mia, however was trying to make sure her friend didn't pass out. Her eyes scanned his face that was contorted into an expression of pain and fear. It was pale, almost too pale and Mia struggled to keep her emotions in check. "Not to be Johnny Raincloud here, but that's not gonna happen," he said softly, yet everyone heard him. "Because as far as I can see, we're still trapped down here. Now, Ben where is this other way out?" he asked weakly.

"He's right Ben," Mia said, taking her eyes off the man lying beside her. "It doesn't make any sense because the first thing the builders would have done after getting down here was cut a secondary shaft back out for air and in case of cave ins. And either I'm legally blind or there's no stair case here."

"Right," her father said and Ben nodded. Three of the five searched for possible clues in the walls, when finally Ben stopped. Mia heard him mumble something and take out the pipe from the Charlotte. He took it apart again and placed it in the holes in the wall. It was a perfect fit. The stem slid into another hole. It made the circle twist around until it made a complete 180 degree turn. It locked up, then Ben was able to push it in. A door next to Patrick opened up and the whole group walked through.

There, surrounding them were historical artifacts of all kinds. All five split up into different parts of the room, with Mia supporting Riley so he didn't collapse.

Mia walked over to a large statue. "It's a big blueish green man," Riley mumbled with a smile on his face, "with a strange looking goatee. I'm guessing that's significant," he chuckled.

"And I'm guessing you've had too much blood loss," Mia said watching him. "Ben, we need to find the stairs. Riley's losing his mind!" she called. But Ben wasn't listening. Instead, he was focusing on a small stone pool with what looked like oil in it. So, he took his torch and lit the liquid ablaze. The fire spread down the stone ruts until as giant room was lit up, showing all of the people inside the vast amount of treasure they had just found.

Mia joined Ben looking over the treasure room from a balcony. Patrick and Abigail had joined them and his father laughed and took hold of his son's shoulder. Mia started to giggle in awe at what they had done. When she looked over at Riley, whom she was still supporting, she saw he was crying. Tears pooled in his blue eyes as he looked over the railing.

"Riley are you crying?" she asked with a small smile on her face.

"Look," he said. "Stairs." And then she saw them. It was a more beautiful sight than any treasure she could imagine. They were getting out of this horrible place.

--

Okay, so maybe I did get to do something cool. I got shot. Which is more than Ben can say. It hurt like hell and I was scared to death. Why I sacrificed myself to save Ben, I don't even know, but I did and I paid the price for it.

Finding the treasure gave me this elated feeling I would never have thought I'd have the few hours before. And I only said those things because I was losing blood... Maybe... I guess you'll never know.

And I've never been more happy see to stairs in my life. Normally I cringe at the sight of them but this was different. I was freakin' so happy we were getting out of that hell hole I just started crying. It was amazing. Then I was shipped off to the hospital while Ben dealt with the FBI. That was fun to say the least...

--

A/N: So there you go. I didn't want to make you wait too long for the next chapter so I gave it to you the same day. It was a pretty good idea, was it not? Review if you want to. I know this chapter is a little short but I wanted the FBI thing and the other parts of the movie to be its own chapter. It's also not gonna stop with the end of the movie. There's gonna be some chapters after those, where a character is in peril and the others are close to breaking. It's pretty awesome if i do say so myself. And then there's the aftermath of that... let's just say I'm not even close to being done. ;D


	14. Finally Out

Disclaimer: Everything National Treasure belongs to Disney. I am simply borrowing it all. So I thank you.

A/N: So here's another chapter. I may update one right after this, but that's a maybe. Review if you feel the need to, but it's all right if you don't. I won't be offended.

--

Both Abigail and Mia had to help Riley up the small staircase to get out of the treasure room. When they reached the landing, they thought it was a dead end, but Ben had other plans. In the darkness of the cavern, he took a spare, unlit torch and smashed it into the wall, forming a crack. He smashed it again, a little harder this time, making the crack wider. One last hit made the wall split in two and Ben poked his head out of the hole. Coughing briefly and seeing a man investigating the scattered remains of Mr. Lane he said , "Hi. Do you have a cell phone I can borrow?"

"Hey, Ben," Mia said, "It's getting kind of hard to keep Riley up back here. You think you could speed things up so we can get out too?"

"Oh, sorry," he said leaping from the hole. Abigail came first, hopping out and she and Ben put out their hands to helped the injured Riley from the hole while Mia made sure he didn't fall backwards. Riley took his arm from around Mia and held them both out of the hole, Ben taking one and Abigail taking the other. They both helped him out with a small grunt. Mia then climbed out, retaking her place under his arm. Patrick was the last to exit and Mia finally got a good look at how horrible they appeared. Everyone was covered in dirt and both Riley and Mia were wet with blood. All were sweating and very tired.

The man standing next to the bones all over the floor was still giving them a blank stare. "Why is he staring at us?" Riley whispered in Mia's ear.

"Gee, I don't know," she replied sarcastically. "It could be because we just came out of a tomb looking like we were lost in the woods for a week. Not to mention both you and I are covered in your blood."

"Oh..." Riley muttered.

"Do you have a cell phone I can borrow?" Ben asked for the second time. The man nodded mutely and pulled a small phone out of his pocket. Slowly as if Ben was an alien, he handed over his phone. First Ben dialed 911 to get Riley the medical help he needed. "Yes can you send an ambulance?" he asked calmly. "My friend's been grazed pretty bad by a bullet and he needs medical attention immediately." He listened for a moment and said, "We're at Trinity Church. Thank you." And he hung up. Next he dialed the number for the FBI building where Sadusky worked.

"Yes can I speak to Agent Sadusky?" he asked. "Thank you." Mia nudged Ben and told him that she was taking Riley up to the main room of the church to wait for the ambulance. Ben nodded and she heard him say, "Agent Sadusky, I told you before I jumped I found door number three. And it was the right choice. But it came with a price. I'm at Trinity Church. You can meet me here." And Ben hung up the phone, walking out to see Riley off to the hospital.

"And you're sure he's going to be all right?" Ben heard Mia ask the paramedic. Lightly smiling to himself, he approached the motley crew of his friends and medics.

"If the medics say he's going to be fine," Ben said placing a hand on her back, "he's going to be fine."

"Don't worry M," Riley said as a medic gently wrapped gauze around his wound. "I'll be fine. Stay here with Ben."

She squinted then nodded so small, that if you weren't looking for it, you would have missed it. As the medics carried Riley out of the church, the FBI entered the church with guns drawn. They took Mia, Abigail, and Patrick and sat them in a pew. Ben was led to the front of the church and the agents instructed them to wait there for Agent Sadusky. When the elder man walked in, he had his hands in the pockets of his grey suit. Immediately he went to Ben and the latter handed him the case with the Declaration of Independence inside it. "Just like that?" he asked.

"Just like that," Ben agreed.

"You do know you just handed me your biggest barganing ship," the agent said.

"The Declaration of Independence is not a barganing ship," Ben said. "Not to me."

"That's so you Ben," Mia muttered with a small smile. The only two who heard her were her father and Abigail and they both grinned.

"Have a seat," Sadusky said. Both men sat down on the few stairs leading up to the alter. "So what's your offer?" he asked.

"Oh, how about a bribe?" Ben asked. "Say...ten billion dollars."

"I take it you found the treasure," Sadusky assumed.

"It's about five stories beneath your shoes," Ben confirmed.

"You know the Templars and the Freemasons believed that the treasure was too great for any one man to have. Not even a king. That's why they took such lengths to keep it hidden." As he spoke, Ben noticed that on his pinky on his hands folded in front of him was a ring with a Masonic symbol on it.

"That's right," Ben whispered with a smile. "The Founding Fathers believed the same thing about government. I figure their solution will work for the treasure too."

"Give it to the people."

"Divide it amongst the Smithsonian, the Louver, the Cairo Museum... There's thousands of years of world history down there and it belongs to the world. And everybody in it."

"You don't really understand the concept of a barganingship," Sadusky said.

All his friends laughed lightly and Mia said, "Would you be surprised if I told you he gets that a lot?"

"Not in the slightest," Sadusky answered.

"All right, here's what I want," Ben started. "Dr. Chase gets off completely clean, not even a post-it on her service record."

"Okay," Sadusky agreed.

"I want the credit for the find to go to the entire Gates family." Glancing over at Mia he saw her smile and give him a slight nod. "With the assistance of Mr. Riley Poole," he added seeing Mia nod again.

"And what about you?" Sadusky asked.

"I would really love not to go to prison," Ben said and the others smiled. "I can't even begin to describe how much I would love not to go to prison."

"Yeah, you wouldn't do very well there, would you?" Mia joked.

"Mia," Ben said lightly with a smile and Sadusky chuckled.

"Someone's got to go to prison, Ben." Ben nodded glumly then looked over at his sister. For the first time since they climbed into the tunnel he noticed her bruises and a thought formed in his head.

"Well, if you have a helicopter, I think I can help with that." And Mia rolled her eyes knowingly. Sadusky got up and pulled out his own phone.

"All right, Gates. I'll call one and we leaved in twenty minutes. Where are we going?"

"Boston. It's Boston," he said with a smirk.

"Okay. Meet me outside in twenty minutes. You can let them go," he stated to the other agents standing next to the other trio. They nodded and walked away. Ben approached his family and Abigail. "Hey guys. Looks like I really am going to Boston."

"I want to come with you," Mia said standing up.

"No," Ben said firmly.

"Hey, he kidnapped me, remember?" Mia asked.

"I understand that," Ben said placing his hands on her shoulders. "But you need to go to the hospital to get your own wounds checked out. And I want you to check to make sure Riley's okay. Have Abigail take you."

"Okay..." she said slightly annoyed. "But you have to tell me everything about it," she said firmly.

"I plan to," Ben said with a smile. He walked out of the church to find it had gotten dark in all the time they spent in the cavern. Waving, he watched Mia and Abigail climb in a car to drive to the hospital. It was finally over.

--

Oh I wish I could have seen the look on Ian's face when he was arrested. That would have been priceless. And it was good to know Ben appreciated my help so much he gave me some credit for the find. Hearing that from Mia was very touching, especially when she said I really did deserve it.

But I was slightly out of it when I stayed in the hospital that one night. Morphine just didn't fare well for me...

--

Mia walked into the hospital trying to find Riley's room. The doctor had just finished giving her a CAT scan to make sure she wasn't concussed. It turns out she wasn't, but she could have told you that. A small, white bandage secured the larger cut above her eye closed and she was give an antibiotic to make sure it didn't get infected. However, she did have a bruised rib and a very slightly sprained ankle, but not enough to where she needed crutches. That should make Ben happy. Although, she did admit she looked terrible. There were black bags under her eyes considering she hadn't slept in more than two days, and the bruises were an angry array of colors. Abigail had brought her a change of clothes so she didn't have to wear the cob web covered, blood soaked clothing she had on previously. The blond told her she too was going to change and she'd meet her in Riley's room.

Mia agreed and her thoughts strayed to her brother. A smile came to her lips as she thought of the look on his face when they found the treasure. He was so happy. He was happier than she'd seen him in months and it made her happy too. But at this moment in time, she was more concerned with the well-being of Riley. She wasn't too worried about him because the paramedics said he'd be fine but she did want to check on him. When she finally did reach his room, there was a nurse inside fiddling with the machines on the wall. "You're really pretty," she heard him mutter to the nurse.

The red headed woman smiled and said in a very clear Autralian accent, "Thank you very much Mr. Poole. You'll be out of here tomorrow morning." And she walked out, almost running into Mia. "So sorry, deary," she said.

"That's okay," Mia said to her. "I'm sorry about him," she apologized. "He's usually not like that."

"That's quite all right," the young woman said. "People react differently to the morphine. Although I can say your friend is the craziest I've seen in a long while. Most people just fall asleep."

"You should see him when he's not on the drugs," Mia said. "He's very different. Still annoying as hell though."

She giggled. "Well, he should be back to normal once we get him on a lower prescription of different drugs," she informed her. "But considering he was shot, we'll stick to the morphine until tomorrow morning."

"Good to know," Mia replied.

"I'm Claire, by the way."

"Mia," she replied shaking her outstretched. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," she said. "Well, I do have to be making my rounds, but you're welcome to go in and visit him."

"Thank you," she said walking in.

"Mia!" she heard him say. "What's up?"

"Not much. Ben's just on his way to watch Ian get arrested, but that's about it."

"Ian's going to jail. I can see it now..." he said looking up. "No more guns, no more shooting, and no more racing to find the treasure! 'Cause we already did! Haha!"

Mia gave an awkward half smile and said, "Yeah, totally." Not twenty seconds later did Abigail walk in wearing brand new clothes.

"Hey, Riley," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"Fantastic," he said slowly. "I don't feel a thing." Then he giggled and stared off into space.

Abigail raised her eyebrows and leaned in to whisper in Mia's ear. "Are you sure he's all right?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," Mia replied still with the half smile. "But he's whacked out of his mind."

"What do you mean?"

"They gave him drugs. The good kind. The kind that make him whacked out of his mind and make it fun for me," she explained looking back at Riley. He was currently pressing his hand down on the sheets making a crunching noise and laughing at it. Mia giggled and said, "See?"

"Right..." Abigail said.

"Well, I want a cup of coffee. Do you want one?" Mia asked.

"No, I'm all right," she said.

"Okay. Hey, Riley?" Mia asked. "I'm gonna go and get some coffee. I'll be right back but Abigail's going to stay with you."

"I am?" she asked. Mia shot her a look and she said, "I mean, I am."

"I'll be right back," she said again walking out leaving Abigail staring at Riley in apprehension waiting for him to do something stupid.

--

So maybe the drugs weren't very good for me, but I can tell you it was hella fun annoying the crap out of Abigail. And maybe... some of it wasn't because of the morphine... They just let me off for it.

It was good to be me for once.

--

As Mia walked back to Riley's room with her coffee in hand, she smiled at the thought if what Riley was doing to her. When she opened the door and before the blink of an eye, Abigail popped out at her. "Why the hell did you leave me alone with him?" she asked fiercely. "I swear that kid is going to make me go insane!"

"Oh, he can't be that bad," Mia said.

"Really?" she asked in a very annoyed tone. Opening the door again, she pointed towards the young man. He had his thumbs hooked together and his palms facing in. He was fluttering his fingers and looking up at them.

"Hey, Mia!" he said with a grin. "It looks like a butterfly."

Mia looked back at the blond woman and said, "Okay, yeah. Maybe he is that bad. But you have to give him a break. He was shot. At least he's not in pain."

"I hate you," she growled.

"Aww, thanks Abby," Mia said brightly walking into her friend's room.

--

A few hours later, Ben walked into Riley's room quietly as to not disturb his sleeping friend. "Mia!" he whispered. His sister looked up from the magazine she was reading and smiled. Setting the paper down quietly, she got up from her chair and exited with her brother. "Hey," he said. "How's he doing?"

"Pretty well, considering he was shot. He was a little kooky from the morphine but other than that he was okay. Although I think Abigail wanted to kill him."

"How cooky was he?" Ben asked.

"Let's just say he was...well whacked out of his mind."

Ben actually laughed. "I'm not surprised Abigail wanted to kill him. She can barely handle Riley in his right mind."

"Yeah...So how was it?"

"Amazingly satisfying," Ben said with a smile.

"Tell all," she said with her own grin.

"Okay..."

_Ben climbed into the helicopter following Agent Sadusky. The older man handed him a headset and spoke to him. "Where exactly in Boston are we headed?"_

"_The Old North Church," Ben replied. "I'm pretty sure he's trying to break in at the moment."_

"_Okay. You hear that?" he asked the pilot. He gave a thumbs up and smiled. _

"_We should be there in about a half hour," he told them. Ben nodded. _

_When they finally got there, they stopped at a local police station and took their cruisers to the church. Ben hopped out of one of the cars and stood across the street in the shadows. As soon as he was hidden, the sirens went off. Ben saw Ian turn around and he looked shocked. He ran a hand through his hair as he was pushed up against a car. _

_The rest of his team was being taken down by other agents and officers. "You're under arrest, Mr. Howe," Sadusky said walking up to him, "for kidnapping, assault, attempted murder, and trespassing on government property." The British man closed his eyes as his hands were cuffed behind his back. _

_When he opened them, Ben stepped out of the shadows so Ian could see him. He stared in shock as to how he got out of the cavern. Ben just shrugged as if to say 'Karma's a bitch'. Ian just stared back._

"That is so amazing!" Mia said with a wide grin.

"I know!" Ben agreed.

"Bastard deserves what he got," Mia muttered.

"That he did," Ben agreed again.

--

"I am so glad to be getting out of here," Riley said as Ben was pushing him out of the hospital in a wheel chair.

"I'm so glad you're not on the morphine," Abigail said.

"Me too!" Ben said.

"Me three!" Mia added from behind him.

"Thanks guys," he muttered. "I love you too." When they got to the car, Mia helped her friend get in. "Thanks," he said.

"Welcome," Mia replied.

All the way to his apartment Riley was smiling and talking animatedly about anything and everything. Abigail appeared to be annoyed but he knew she was just glad he was okay. Ben didn't even need to say anything. He just nodded and listened.

Mia sat with him in the back seat and talked to him about what he was talking about. As of that morning all was right with the world.

--

A/N: But it won't be for long, 'cause I'm about to mess with it. The next chapter should be pretty nifty and entertaining that's for sure. Review if you want to. If not, that's okay. I'll live.


	15. A Hero But With A Price

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine. (Yes, if you've seen CSI Vegas you may recognize parts of the plot-ish kind of. That's not mine either. But I thought it'd be a good way to put someone in peril. I do not take credit for coming up with that...I wish it was my idea... But alas, it is not... So sad...)

A/N: So I said I'd probably update right after the other one, so I did... It's quite and interesting chapter. Peril in places and major character angst from pretty much everyone... Review if you seem to feel the need, but you really don't have to.

--

The obnoxious ringing of Mia's cell phone awoke her from a deep sleep. With a groan, she reached her hand out from underneath the warm comforter and grabbed her cell phone. Pressing the little green button she answered with a groggy, "Hello?"

"_Hello? Can I speak to Amelia Gates please?"_ the woman asked from over the phone.

_She sure sounds awful chip for the middle of the night,_ she thought bitterly. Instead, she said, "This is she."

"_Ma'am I am sorry for the lateness of the hour. My name is Georgia Darvis. I work for Shadow Springs Hospital and you are listed as the next of kin for Riley Poole," _she said.

At this, she popped out of her sleepy trance with eyes wide, "Oh my God. What happened to him? Is he all right?"

"_I do not know the nature of his condition at this very moment," _she replied. _"What I can tell you is he was brought into the emergency room earlier this evening with severe injuries and he was rushed to surgery. As of now, he is still in the operating room," _she informed the other woman.

"Oh, God..." she whispered. Hopping out of bed and still listening to the nurse on the other end, she began to rummage around in her drawers for something to slip on.

"_In the event that medical decision need to be taken in his place, you would be the one to do that." _Mia stopped what she was doing to fight away tears.

"Thank you," she said slowly. "I'll be down there in twenty minutes." When she hung up the phone, she let it drop to the ground. Leaning up against the wall, she brought her hand to her open mouth. Riley, Riley Poole, was on an operating table in a hospital. It hadn't been a month since he got out from being grazed by a bullet. What was this guy? A magnet for danger? And they called her! Why was she next of kin? _What about his..._ Then it hit her. She _was_ his family. Well, her and Ben. _Ben! I need to call Ben! _She thought.

Getting on her knees to find the fallen phone, she searched around until she felt the cool metal between her fingers. They automatically hit the speed dial for her brother. After exactly four rings, Ben's tired voice answered. _"What do you want Mia? It's two o'clock in the morning,"_ he moaned. _"Nothing could be that important."_

"I know, but just hear me out for a second," she said trying to find a t-shirt. "And I'm sure this is that important."

"_Fine,"_ he grumbled. She could hear the rustle of sheets and a door close before he said,_ "What is it?"_

"Riley's hurt." Her revelation cause a shocked silence on the other end. "The hospital just called me. He's in surgery right now and I'm going down there."

"_Surgery?"_ he asked, breathless. _"How bad is he hurt?"_

"I have no idea. The nurse wouldn't tell me anything over the phone."

"_Why'd they call you?"_ he asked.

"Did Riley ever tell you he was raised in Foster care?" she asked slipping her tennis shoes on.

"_Yeah, why?"_

"Well, because he doesn't really have a family, he named me next of kin."

"_Oh, god. It must be really bad,"_ he said. _"What hospital?"_

"Shadow Springs," she replied grabbing her car keys.

"_Abby and I'll meet you there in about a half hour,"_ he said.

"All right." Before he was able to hang up, she said in a small voice, "Ben, I'm scared."

"_I know, honey,"_ he said._ "Don't worry. He'll be fine." _

"Okay," she replied. "See you soon." And she hung up, as she nearly sprinted to her car.

--

"Abby?" Ben whispered touching his sleeping girlfriend's shoulder. "Abigail, honey? Wake up."

"Ben?" she mumbled. "What is it?"

"We have to go to the hospital," he said. It was this that made her sit up.

"What? Why? Are you- What happened?" she riled off.

"Riley's hurt. He's in surgery. That's why Mia just called me. We have to go down to the hospital. I don't want her to be there alone. Especially if he..."

"Dear God," Abigail said jumping out of bed. She ran to their wardrobe and grabbed some clothes in the dark and threw them on. Ben did the same and they were both ready in under five minutes. Ben grabbed the keys and they flew out the door to their car.

--

Mia almost ran into the hospital and asked the nurse for Riley's doctor. "Where is he? I want to speak to him!" she practically yelled. A fairly young doctor came out dressed in scrubs. "Are you here for Riley Poole?" he asked. She nodded and he said, "I'm Doctor Robert Stone. I've been Mr. Poole's surgeon."

"What happened to him?" she said begging for an answer.

"He was attacked. There's been a mob going around and assaulting people. According to what I've heard from the police, he was driving in an alley and he came across the mob beating someone up. He stopped and tried to disband them. After they all ran away, he got out of his car, called 911 and went to make sure the guy was okay. The mob came back and started assaulting him. The police arrived and he was unconscious. I've been able to assess his injuries. He has a broken left radius and ulna, a sprained ankle, a concussion. The bruises on his face are so severe that his eyes are swollen shut and I can't tell one bruise from the next. Not to mention the internal damage is substantial. There's internal bleeding from many of his major organs. He has several bruised and fractured ribs. But those aren't the things I'm most worried about. When he was being beaten, one of his ribs broke clean off and lodged in his lung. When the paramedics turned him over, the rib ripped through the lung. I'm currently trying to repair the lung and all the internal bleeding... but the damage has already been done. This kind of massive repairing surgery is very risky and hard to do. There is a chance he'll make it... but there's an even larger chance that he will not. Now, I am trying my best to repair all that's been done to him, but I don't know if I can. If I can't repair the lung, he won't be able to breathe and he'll die. I am going to do everything I can to make sure he gets through. This type of surgery also take a long time to complete. It's gonna be a long night. Do you need me to explain anything else?" he gently asked.

Mia shook her head no as her lower lip trembled. "What about the other guy?" she breathed.

"He is actually doing very well," Dr. Stone answered. "I am confident that if Mr. Poole hadn't stepped in, he would have died. He saved his life. Your friend is a hero."

"What's his name?" she asked with tears in her eyes.

"David Spencer," the doctor replied. "I hope your friend is gonna be okay. And I'll do everything I can to be sure of it."

"Thank you," she whispered. The doctor nodded and turned away to go back to his surgery. Mia swallowed hard and sunk into the nearest chair. Her trembling hand found its way to her mouth when the realization hit her that Riley could die, that she would never hear his laugh or see his smile again. She would have to say good bye to him on a cold, metal table. Squeezing her eyes shut and letting the tears fall, she hugged herself tightly and tried to believe that fact Riley wouldn't give up and that he would be okay. But the thoughts of his death still found their way into the dark corners of her mind, and the tears flowed faster.

It was then, Ben rushed into the ER followed closely behind by Abigail. He knelt in front of his crying sister and asked, "Oh, God Mia. How bad is it?"

"It's bad," she whimpered hugging him. "Apparently, he was driving in an alley and he saw someone getting hurt so he broke it up, but the mob came back and hurt him too. He was beaten something awful. He has broken bones, internal bleeding, broken ribs, and one of them punctured his lung and they- Ben they don't know if he's gonna make it," she finished with more tears falling down her face.

Ben hugged his sister with a stunned expression. Riley may die? No. Impossible. Riley couldn't die. He just couldn't. He didn't before. He wouldn't now. Ben heard her sniff and say, "I guess this is how he'd want to go. Saving someone's life, I mean."

"Hey," Ben said. "He's not going anywhere. He's gonna be just fine. He'll make it through."

"I'll tell you what Ben," she said with a small, watery smile. "I'm gonna do my best to believe that."

"I'll take that," Ben whispered.

--

I never realized that my friends cared so much. They woke up at two in the morning to come and make sure I was okay. And when they found out I wasn't gonna be okay, they stayed and waited. I've never had that before in my life. And now it was happening while I was dying. Hearing all of this after the fact was touching and almost unbelievable. I do remember Mia telling me she went to talk to the guy who saved me.

--

"Excuse me," Mia said to the nurse manning the front desk. "Can you tell me where David Spencer's room is?"

"Visiting hours are over, ma'am," she said.

"Please," Mia begged. "I know he's probably asleep but I just want to see him. I won't wake him up, I promise."

The nurse could tell the young woman was distressed and would do what she said so she did direct her to the man's room. "Thank you," she said. As she walked into his hospital room, she saw a forty year old man lying sleeping in the bed before her. Several bruises littered his face but he looked comfortable. If Riley was even half as bad as this guy, she was sure she'd lose it.

She started to cry again in the door way and turned to leave when someone said, "Hello?" behind her.

Mia turned back around and saw him awake staring at her in confusion. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," she replied. "I didn't mean to impose. My name's Mia Gates-"

"Wait, the Mia Gates? The one who helped her brother find the Templar Treasure?" he interrupted.

"Guilty," she chuckled. _It was only a month ago and people already know about it... _she thought.

"Wow," he said. "I can't believe Mia Gates in my hospital room. Wait, why are you in my hospital room?"

"I understand you were attack earlier this evening," she began.

"Yeah," he replied. "And if that guy hadn't come along, I probably wouldn't be here."

"That's sort of the reason I'm here. I know the guy who saved you. His name's Riley Poole. I don't know if you know him as well..."

"Riley Poole? Riley Poole saved my life?" he asked clearly surprised. "The boys back home'll never believe this. How's he doing?"

"Not so well. He was hurt pretty bad and the doctors are trying to repair the damage done but..." Tears formed in her eyes again. "Th-they don't know if he's gonna make it..."

"Oh God..." he whispered. "I'm sorry..."

"You're just the last person to see him alive and I guess I wanted that connection between him and... I don't know. I need something to tell me that he did this for a reason... I should go," she said wiping her eyes.

"I really hope he's gonna be okay," he called after her. "And if he is, I'd like to meet him. To thank him I mean."

"I think he'd like that," Mia said with a small smile.

--

Mia returned to the waiting room in the hospital and sat down next to her brother. And for the next few hours that's how they stayed, with no news of Riley's condition. None of the three had moved. It looked almost as if they were all in a trance, sitting and thinking each in their own world, trying to cope with the fact their best friend may never wake up.

Twelve hours after Mia got the phone call, the doctor finally emerged. Mia bolted from her seat and hurriedly asked the man how Riley was doing. "Not much better, I'm afraid," he replied. "It's taken longer than expected to repair the damage. We're doing all we can but he's crashed three times since they brought him in and I don't think he can take much more. If we can't repair the damage in the next twelve hours, I don't think he'll make it. I know this isn't the news you were hoping for, but having none at all I think is worse. I'm sorry," he said then he walked away, back to his work.

Mia again sunk into the nearest chair and Ben put his hand on her shoulder. This touch made her snap out of her trance and she suddenly got up. "I need to think," she whispered and walked away. Ben started to go but Abigail quickly grabbed his arm to keep him from running after her .

"Let her go for now," she advised. "If she doesn't come back in the next few minutes go after her. Okay?" Ben nodded and sat down in his chair. She slipped her hand into his and he gave a reassuring squeeze. "Ben, what happens if he's not gonna be all right?" she asked solemnly.

"Don't think like that," Ben pleaded. "He is gonna be all right."

"It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself as much as you are trying to convince me," she said sadly.

Ben was silent for a minute and he covered his face with his hands. "I care about the kid, you know?" he said. "Over the years, I've just gotten to know him and he's really a good guy. He's always been there for me and Mia, and I never give him enough credit. He does things that even my father won't do for me. He took a bullet for me Abbs and I never thanked him. I never told him how much he meant to me or anything like that. And now he could die. Him not being there would be like the crickets not chirping at night. I just isn't right. He has to make it through because if he isn't... I don't know what would happen..." he trailed off.

"Oh, Ben..." Abigail said wrapping him in a hug. "I know." Ben was near tears but he had controlled them for Abigail's sake. If she saw him crying, she wouldn't be able to stop herself. And that combined with everything else just wouldn't be good for him or her right now.

"I'm going to find Mia," he whispered pulling away. Abigail nodded and watched him move away from her. Ben Gates was losing it. How long would it be before she lost it too?

--

A/N: Poor Riley. I just love torturing him don't I? Yes I do. Review if you want to. It'd be nice but not necessary. And I just made all of the medical stuff up so if it doesn't make sense, sorry about that... I'm not very good with the medical mumbo jumbo. Also, if it doesn't sound as professional as it could, sorry about that too... Again I'm not very good with the medical stuff... Hope you like it. Hope you review but it's really all right if you don't feel like it.


	16. Worry

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing at all...

A/N: So here we go again. This one's very angsty (hence the title worry...) But anywho, if you want to review then go ahead. You really don't have to though. I hope you like it.

--

Mia walked to the small chapel inside the hospital and sat down on one of the pews in the middle of the room. She sat in silence for a while with no one there but her until finally she started to talk. "Hey," she said her voice shaking slightly. "I know I haven't talked to you in a while. I've just been really busy with all this treasure hunting... I know that's a lame excuse but it's all I've got. I don't deserve any favors from you. I mean, I haven't been the most sin-free person, but this is really the only thing I've wanted most in my whole life... Except to prove my family isn't crazy... But that's sort of off topic. Now, you know I haven't done this in while... I don't really know what to say. I guess, I was hoping you'd let Riley live... I mean, Abigail's hysterical and Ben's losing it. Ben is losing it, that should tell you something. He's the rock of this... family, I guess you could say. It's more of a dysfunctional family but again, that's sort of off topic...When Ben freaks, you know something is seriously wrong. We just really need him to be okay. Because if he's not..." she trailed off letting all the tears fall from her eyes. "Please," she begged through choked sobs. "Please don't take him away from us. You let him live before. Why is this time so different? Abby needs him. Ben needs him. Hell, I need him. Let him come back. Please, let him come back. I...I love him." This was the last thing she whispered before she burst into heaving sobs filled with pain and fear for her hurting friend.

The only thing that went unnoticed by her was her brother's presence in the back of the small room.

--

Ben found his sister in the chapel located in the hospital. He was about to walk in when he heard her start talking. It appeared as though she was praying. He hadn't prayed in the longest time. Without disturbing her, he slipped into the back pew and listened to her heart wrenching words. He smiled at some parts but when she got to the part where she was begging for Riley to live, unwilling tears streamed down his cheeks. Because she was right. Ben did need him. Just the thought that he wouldn't make it, nearly tore his heart out.

Then she said something he didn't expect her to admit. She said she loved him. Ben knew she loved Riley ever since Abigail had suggested it in the car the first night after stealing the Declaration. Ever since then he looked for the signs that they may have deeper feelings for the other, and he saw what his girlfriend had seen all along. He just didn't get why the two younger ones didn't see it in the other. But he was ripped from his trance, when his sister started sobbing, horrible sobs that would make even the strongest man break down.

Ben couldn't take anymore of just watching his sister suffer so he stood up, wiped his eyes on his sleeve and walked to where she was sitting. After sitting down next to her, he gently pulled her into a comforting hug and let her cry. He didn't know how long it was until his own tears finally subsided, but she reduced her sobs to small gulps for air, then to sniffles and finally, shaking shallow breaths.

Mia turned from her brother and stared up at the ceiling with her hands in her lap. She swallowed, then asked, "How much did you hear?"

"Most of it," Ben replied in a whisper. "Except that beginning part. And just so you know, everything you said about me was right. You've got me pegged." Mia managed a small smile. "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?" she asked even though she knew exactly what he wanted to know she meant.

"What you said."

"Which part?"

"That last part."

Mia nodded weakly and said, "Yeah, I did."

Ben nodded as well and started brushed her hair behind her ear and off her shoulder. "Good to know you finally know."

"What?" she asked.

"Honey, I knew before you knew. And I thought you were never going to figure it out," he replied with a ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

After another long pause, Ben asked, "What did you mean, by 'you let him live before'? I mean, I know about the gunshot, but there's something else."

"Did Riley ever tell you why he ended up in foster care?" Mia asked. Ben furrowed his brow and tried to think of any time when Riley mentioned his past. When he couldn't think of a single time he shook his head no. "Well, he told me. His family was murdered in front of him." Ben's jaw literally dropped to the ground. "Yeah. Apparently these robbers were thieving his house and they came home. They shot them all one by one until the police burst through the door right before they were going to kill Riley. He lived then. Why not now?" she finished.

Ben was pushed into a shocked silence. Riley watched his family die? What the hell? Yet, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Guns always made him very uncomfortable, more than the average person. He never talked about his past, ever. Ben also remembered one time when Riley woke up whimpering, as if from a terrible nightmare, saying, "Dad, no. Please Dad. No, don't take him away." Ben didn't put it together until now... How could he have been so blind? There were more than enough signs...

But Mia didn't let him think any more. "And why him? What has he done to deserve all of this? I mean, he saved the lives of two people he didn't even know. He's risked his neck for me more than enough times. He just- It doesn't seem fair."

"Well, people say that God only gives us what we can handle. And what doesn't kill us makes us stronger," Ben said rubbing circles on her back.

"Why does a six year old have to be that strong?" she asked. "And if God only gives us as much as we can handle, then Riley can handle a whole hell of a lot. Because there has been so much crap dumped on him. Why?"

"I...I don't know," Ben finally sighed.

"Me either," she whispered. "Ben, he has to be okay," she whimpered.

"I know he does, girly," Ben replied. "I know he does." And they sat with her head on his shoulder for two hours until they figured Abigail would be wondering where they went. They finally got back to the waiting room and Abigail leaped up from her chair.

The blond could see the two siblings had been crying so she wrapped they both in a bone crunching hug. "Everything's gonna be all right," she whispered in both of their ears. "I know it will."

When she finally let go, Mia sat down in the nearest chair and put her head on her knees and was silent. Abigail pulled Ben to the side and gave him another hug. "What happened? You were gone nearly two hours," she said.

Ben shook his head as if to say no. But Abigail pressed harder. "Fine," he replied. "I found her in t he chapel. Praying. Praying for Riley. And God, Ab, she said some heart wrenching stuff. Stuff I didn't even know she felt. And then at the very end, she...she admitted she loved him. And then she burst into tears. And I couldn't just sit there at watch so I went over and I hugged her while she cried. When she stopped crying I learned that Riley watched everyone in his family die and he was only six. Mia asked me why this was happening to him... And I couldn't answer because I don't know why. Riley has done nothing to deserve this and all that's happened to him."

"I know, honey," Abby whispered pulling him into the third hug in five minutes.

"I just feel so helpless," he whimpered. "I wasn't there for him. And I can't be there for her if he... if he doesn't make it. I'm losing it Abby. I never lose it."

"He'll be fine," Abigail tried to convince him. "I know he'll be fine."

"How?" he asked.

"Call it instinct or intuition, but I can just feel that he's going to be okay," she said. Ben nodded mutely and left to sit next to his silent sister.

--

Finally, after another ten hours, the doctor emerged again. But Mia was reluctant to speak to him. The less she knew, the more it seemed to her that Riley was going to be okay. It had been twelve hours since he had last informed them of what was happening, the amount of time he said if they didn't fix it he would die. He either brought the news that Riley was going to be fine, or they weren't going to be able to save him. One side would break her heart, the other could make her fly. Yin and Yang.

But she needed to know, she stood up with her brother and Abigail and walked over to the doctor. "The surgery was successful," he said with a small smile. "He made it through. I have to tell you he was as stubborn one, that's for sure." Everyone smile both at the joke and the fact Riley made it through. "However, he's not out of the woods yet." Their smiles faded. "The next few hours should tell us whether or not he'll make it. If he remains stable, I'm sure he'll make a full recovery."

"Can we see him?" Ben asked with a hopeful look in his eye.

"Of course," he said. "I'll take you to him." All three followed the doctor, but Mia was terrified. What would he look like? Would he remain stable? Would he ever wake up? All these thoughts ran through her head as they walked into the ICU.

The door to his room was closed and before the other two could enter, Abigail said, "How about we give each other a few minutes alone with him. Then we can all go in and stay with him." They all nodded and Ben suggested that Abigail go first. The blond nodded, and opened the door to walk into his room.

When she first laid her eyes on the sleeping figure in the bed, she almost burst into tears. Underneath all the bruises, his skin was pale and pasty. He looked so small under the starchy sheets of his hospital beds. Riley was linked up to a number of machines, all that made noises. The continuous beep of the heart monitor and the shallow rise and fall of his chest told her that he was still alive, if barely. "Oh, Riley," she whispered moving to one side of his bed.

She took one of his limp hands in hers and she started to talk. "I knew you'd make it through. You have too much here to live for. You should feel privileged. Not many people can make Ben freak out, but you did." A small laugh escaped her lips as she pressed on. "You need to walk up Riley. We all need you to wake up."

Just before she left, she lightly kissed him on the forehead. When she walked out it was Ben's cue to go in. "Hey kid," he managed to whisper at the sight of his best friend. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I just wanted to tell you scared the crap out of all of us. I never thought I'd say this but I miss everything about you. I know I said that all your complaining annoyed the hell out of me but now I realized that if it wasn't there, I'd miss it. I just think 'What would Riley say' and it always gets me to laugh.

"I've never told you how much you mean to me and for that, I'm sorry. You've done so much for me and I haven't even thanked you for it. I wish I did tell you before. But better late then never I guess. You just have to wake up so I can tell you all of this. You're like my brother Riley and I don't know what I'd do without you. So you need to wake up. 'Cause if you don't... Well I guess we'll finally find out what a hysterical Ben would be like." Even after he finished, Ben sat with his best friend in silence, hoping to comfort him by just being there. After another ten minutes, he got up and walked out of the room. Mia then walked in.

"Hey, honey," she whispered. "I'm gonna try not to cry all right?" Slowly she walked over and studied her best friend's face. She nearly burst into tears at the sight of it. And the sight of him hooked up to all those machines... It was almost too much to bear. "You scared me, you know that?" she began. "Yeah, you scared me. Although, I guess that's what you were counting on. You're twisted like that. But seriously, you got Ben to freak out. You have to really mean something to him if you got him to freak." Tears started to pool in her eyes. "And it looks like I'm failing..." she chuckled. "He even cried. You got the famous Ben Gates to cry. Very nice.

"But seriously Riley, you do need to wake up. Because if you don't... Everyone's going to miss you. I really wish you could hear me. I love you so much and I didn't realize it until now. Until I almost lost you." The tears streamed down her face now, even though she tried to hold them back. "Miserable failure... Just please, wake up. I know you're stubborn enough to stay here. Prove me right. Wake up." With her thumb, she stroked the back if his hand silently until she had no more tears left to cry. Then she got up and opened the door.

"You guys can come in now," she said to the other two. They both walked back into the room and Ben pulled another chair to sit next to Mia who was next to Riley. Abigail perched herself next to the window, which she opened only to see a full moon staring back at her. And they stayed in his room, switching positions as the hours ticked by slowly, every minute as agonizing as the last. Doctors and nurses came by frequently to check on their patient.

Ben had slipped out of the room to go and get something for all of them to eat. When he came back he handed and apple and a water bottle to Mia and an orange and a soda to Abigail. The blond dug into her food while Mia didn't touch hers. "Mia please eat something."

"I'm not hungry," she mumbled keeping her eyes on the unconscious Riley.

"Mia you haven't eaten in almost two days," he said. "Please eat something." She nibbled lightly on the apple. It only had two bites out of it when she put it down. "I know you're worried. But you need to eat more than two bites." She took a single sip of water, then set the bottle down. "I'm fine," she muttered. Her hand then encased his pale, limp one. Ben didn't press any further and ended up sitting next to Abigail by the window.

"They're so cold, Ben," she whispered frightfully. Knowing his sister was more than upset, Ben got up from his seat and placed a hand on her own.

"He'll be fine," Ben whispered.

--

A/N: Did you like it? Too much? Not enough? Let me know if you want to.


	17. Awake

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. I wish it was... But alas, we cannot have everything we wish. (Wow, that was deep. I should work for Hallmark...)

A/N: Sorry for the few day's wait. I was with my dad and he seems to still live in the dark ages and doesn't have access to the Internet. I know right? But I'll have to make this quick. My siblings are trying to kick me off. I'll try and get another one up in the next day or two. This one's pretty good. It's fluffy (friend fluffy so get all ya'll's head out of the gutter!) And sweet-ish... Review if you feel the extreme need to, but you don't really have to.

--

Hours later, the doctor finally walked in.

"I know he hasn't woken up yet," he started, "but considering he hasn't crashed since the surgery, I'm confident he's going to be okay. However, I don't really know when he's going to wake up. It could be a few hours, it could be a few days, but he will wake up. I'm sure of it."

All three let out a collective sigh of relief simply for the fact, he was going to live. On the other hand, they were still worried because they didn't know how long it would take for him to wake up.

Ben sighed. "I think me and Abby are going to go home and get some sleep. You should too."

Mia shook her head and said, "I want to be here when he wakes up, whenever he wakes up."

"Okay," Ben said. "But please, don't worry so much."

"I'll try not to."

"All right." Before he left, he planted a light kiss on the top of his sister's head. "He'll be okay. I know he will."

"Whatever you say, Ben," she muttered.

Ben sighed, not really wanted to leave his sister, but knowing she needed to be there for Riley.

--

Holy crap. Why the hell did his entire body ache? Either he was seriously hung over or something happened to him. He tried to peal his eyes open, but his eye lids didn't seem to want to do what his mind told them to. A small moan managed to escape his lips but it came out a hoarse, barely audible whisper.

Suddenly, like a huge tidal wave, everything that had happened before he passed out came crashing down on him. The alley, the guy, the mob... Crap. They must have hit him pretty hard to make him forget even slightly.

When he was finally able to be aware of his surroundings, he felt something clutching his right hand. _What the hell? _he thought. He then realized it was someone else's hand. He tried to form a question but all that came out was a low, painful moan.

"Riley?" he heard someone asked. He knew that voice. _Mia..._

"Mia?" he managed to croak.

"Yeah, it's me," she replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Water?" he said. Was that his voice? It sounded like a mix between a croak and a whisper. That was definitely not him...

"You're only allowed to have ice chips, but I can give you those," she said. He didn't know if he nodded his head, or he couldn't move it at all. Pain seemed to come from all angles, but he didn't say anything. Mia was probably already worried as hell and he didn't want to add to it.

Cold passed over his lips and the frozen water quenched his parched throat. "Hey, Riles," Mia said. "You know you're in the hospital, right?"

"I kind of figured," he whispered hoarsely. "How long have I been out?"

"A little over three days," she replied. "It's about six o 'clock in the morning now."

"Three days?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. "And it's been only about two days since you came out of surgery."

"Are you serious?"

"Totally serious. You scared the crap out of all of us. Even Ben," she said.

"Sorry... How long have you been here?"

"Just about the same amount of time," she answered. "Ben and Abigail were here too, but when they found out you were going to be okay, they took off to get some sleep."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you guys stay that long?"

"Because we all care about you. You don't know how scared Ben was of losing you. I've never...never seen him like that," she said. Riley could tell she was being totally serious and just for the simple fact that Ben, Ben Gates was scared, terrified him.

"Ben was scared?" he asked, though he already seemed to know the answer.

"Yeah. You got Ben to freak," she replied with what sounded like a rather forced smile. "I don't think he's ever felt so helpless in his life. He's always been the one to jump in and help the people he cares about but this time... I mean, you were- Riley were dying, and we couldn't do anything to-to help."

Just the thought of Ben feeling helpless was enough to send chills up Riley's spine. Ben never felt helpless and it was all because of him... Did he really care that much? Nobody have ever cared that much about him... After a lengthily pause, he asked, "What about the other guy? The guy in the alley?"

"His name's David Spencer. He's doing fine. You saved his life Riley." She paused for a moment, as if she was thinking of something to say. "For a while there, we didn't really think you were going to make it..."

"Eh, I'm too stubborn to leave you guys," he joked.

He felt her hand lightly touch the side of his face and she whispered in a strained voice, "God, Riley..."

"What? Does it really look that bad?"

"No," she lied. "But here you are making jokes after spending almost a day on an operating table. I was scared, terrified you wouldn't make it and I'd have to say good bye to you on an autopsy table..." The pain in her voice was clear and he felt the warm tear drops fall onto his hand.

"Hey," he whispered. "I would never make you do that. Ever." _I know how it feels... _he thought

She sniffed and said, "I know. You always had a twisted sense of humor. Maybe you're related to the Founding Fathers..."

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly in an attempt to smile. "Yeah, I didn't tell you? George Washington's my great great great great great great uncle."

Mia chuckled lightly then said with a serious voice, "Just please don't scare me like that again."

"I won't," he replied. A sharp, white hot pain flooded through his body and he stifled a gasp and clutched Mia's hand tighter.

"What?" she asked suddenly worried. "Are you in pain?"

"No," he lied with a strained whisper.

"Riles," she warned. "Tell me the truth."

Swallowing hard, he whimpered in a voice very unlike his own, "It hurts."

"Okay, I'm going to go and talk to the doctor," she said getting up. "I promise I'll be right back." When she walked out, she met up with Dr. Stone.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

"Not really," she replied in a tense voice. "Riley's in serious pain. Can't you up his morphine?"

"He's already at the limit," the man said sadly. "But I can give him something called Dilauded. It's stronger than morphine and it can be helpful in low doses. But it will knock him out for about six hours."

"Do it," she said. "If it helps his pain, do it. When you said he was stubborn, you were right in more ways than one. He's never been one to display his feelings if someone else it upset. He just shuts down and keeps it in. It's so irritating and I really don't understand why he does it."

"How is that relevant, if you don't mind my asking?" Dr. Stone asked walking behind a counter to retrieve the medication.

"I've been here for three days without sleep so he's worried about me and my feelings," she said following him. When she reached the counter, she stopped and waited for the man to find the right dosage. "What he doesn't seem to get, or care about, is that he almost died. His pain trumps mine. I'm the one whose supposed to be worried about him, not the other way around. He just doesn't feel he's good enough for someone or more than one someone to worry about him. And with all he's been through in his life, that's not surprising. I mean, he was in several very large foster homes. When you're in one of those things, you just get lost in the crowd and you start to get the feel that no one really cares about you and you alone."

"So that's why he didn't tell you he was in pain earlier?" he asked walking back around the counter with a syringe in his hand. "Because he didn't want you to have to worry more than you already have?"

"Exactly," she confirmed starting to walk back to Riley's room. "It's one of his major character flaws... Not to mention it's annoying especially because of the simple fact over the seven years we've known him, Ben and I surely proved to him that we care about him because he's him."

"So why do you think he still does it?" the doctor asked, stopping right outside Riley's room.

"Force of habit," she answered. "I don't know. I hope he grows out of it fast because until he's ready to run a marathon, I'm not gonna leave him alone." The doctor lightly chuckled and opened the door to his patient's room.

"I'm back," she said retaking his hand in her own. "The doctors' gonna give you a different drug, but it's gonna make you sleepy okay."

"You'll be here when I wake up, though. Right?" he asked, like a small, scared child.

"Of course. I promise," she answered. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be all right." Riley nodded slowly and he heard another voice start talking.

"Hello, Mr. Poole," the doctor said. "It's good to see you're awake. How bad is the pain on a scale of one to ten?"

He didn't answer for a moment, then whispered, "Nine."

"All right," he said. "I'm going to give you a drug called Dilauded. It's stronger than morphine and should dull the pain. You'll probably be out for a few hours though."

"That's fine." Suddenly, it was like a warm blanket was laid over him and all the pain melted away, along with the rest of his surroundings. Mia sighed as she felt his hand go limp again.

"Thank you," she said to him.

"No problem," he said then walked back out. She sighed again and looked down at her now peacefully sleeping friend. At least he wasn't in pain anymore. All of a sudden, her eye lids felt like lead and they closed involuntarily. Riley was going to be okay. He woke up and now she could calm down. So, both Riley and Mia fell into a very deep sleep.

--

After about eight hours of sleep and food, Abigail and Ben walked back into the hospital. Thankfully, he found Mia sleeping. _Good_ he thought. _He finally woke up._ "Mia?" he asked lightly tapping her. "Mia, honey?"

"Ben?"she slurred. After a yawn, she asked, "What time is it?"

"Around eleven," Ben said. "When did he wake up?"

"Sixish," she answered stifling another yawn.

"How was he?"

"Groggy, happy kind of, and in serious pain."

"It was that bad?"

"He was on the maximum dose of morphine and he was still hurting at a nine on a scale of one to ten. At first he didn't tell me, but I almost forced it out of him."

"So what'd they do?"

"They gave him another drug and he passed out," she said. "Sorry I didn't call you. I passed out almost as soon as he did. I was just so relieved."

"Good," Ben said. "Now you can go home." But Mia shook her head. "No? Why not? You're not still worried are you?"

"No," she replied. "But I promised that I'd be here when he woke up. Then, I'll go home."

"Okay," Ben said. "That'll do." Abigail retook her place next to the window and looked out to the clear blue sky, as if emulating their moods. Her heart was lighter than it had been in days. Not only had Riley woken up, but the doctor said he was going to make a full recovery. Sure he was still hurt, but hurt was better than dead, as she figured out beneath the Trinity Graveyard.

The blond felt someone else stand next to her. It was Ben and he had a small smile. "I told you I knew he was going to be okay," Abigail said with a grin.

"That you did," he replied. "I'll have to start taking your word for it more often."

"You just might have to," she chuckled.

"At least I don't have to completely worry about both of them anymore," Ben said glancing back to Mia.

"I was just as worried about her than I was about him," Abigail agreed. "Now all we have to do is wait for him to wake up again, then she can finally go home."

Someone then moaned behind them. "The boys in Hollywood couldn't have cued that one better," Ben said turning around to face his best friend. One of Riley's eyes opened and he looked around the room. Ben smiled. "Hey Riley. Good to see you."

"Ben?" he asked. "Abigail? You're both here now?"

"That's right," Abigail said walking over to him. She gave another light kiss on his forehead then asked, "How are you feeling? I know that's kind of a dumb question, but I'm asking anyway."

"'M okay," he replied. "A little shaky, but alive. That's all I could hope for at this point." He was silent for a minute then said quietly, "Thanks, you guys. I've never really had anybody care enough to stick around for this long."

"You don't need to thank us, Riley," Ben said putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "That's what friends are for." Apparently this moved Riley to tears and he started crying. Mia moved and grabbed a tissue. Lightly, she wiped away the solitary tear than ran down his cheek and he gave her a small smile.

"Thanks," he said again. "You guys are just amazing. I don't think I could ask for better friends."

"Well, you could, but then you wouldn't have us," Mia said with a grin.

"Then I don't think I want better friends," Riley said. Abigail 'awed' and Ben gave the brightest smile he'd given in days. All of a sudden, Riley spoke again. "I'm starving. Do you think you could get me something to eat?"

Mia started to chuckle, then Abigail, then Ben until they were all laughing. And they finally felt good. Better than they had in days.

--

I was really very happy with all they had done for me. The stay in the hospital was better than I expected considering one of them was with me at all times, even when I was sleeping. It was nice being waited on hand and foot for a while.

Finally, after a week and a half, I was allowed to go home. BUT, and there's a big 'but' here, I wasn't allowed to stay by myself... So Ben and Mia got into a huge fight as to who should stay with me.

Ben's argument was that he was a guy and he was more equipped to be helping me with...well, you know, that. I really don't want to go into detail in present company so I'll just let you imagine... Although that might be a little worse... Damn... Anyway, he also added a bunch of other things. Then Mia fought back with the fact he had Abigail to take care of. And when that didn't work, she gave him her famous puppy dog look and he finally gave in.

No one, of course, asked for my opinion, but let's just say I'm used to it by now...

--

A/N: So it was cute right? The next was should be funny at least. There's going to be angst in the next few chapters. I mean, you can't juts get attacked and not have some emotional repercussions right? I'm so evil... (I guess that ends my Hallmark career...) But anyway, review if you feel the need to. And do people actually read these things? Just saying...


	18. To Protect Your Family

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. Pure and Simple. Don't sue me.

A/N: Here's the next chapter. Hopefully it gives you a few laughs. The angst I promised you is in here too. Review if you want to, but it isn't required. Enjoy.

--

"You do NOT have to stay with me!" Riley shouted. People poked their heads out of the other apartments to stare at the odd pair, who had been arguing for the past twenty minutes. If you didn't know them, you probably would have figured that they had been married a few years. Mia was standing outside his door while Riley stood on the inside. His bruises had faded from dark purple and blue to a gross greenish-yellow color. Mia had her arms folded in front of her and refused to move let alone leave until Riley let her into his house.

"The doctor said-" Mia started.

"Do not give me that!" he objected. "I don't need someone to stay with me."

"Well, then I'll break in," she replied. "And you know I will. So you might as well make it easier on the both of us if you move your stubborn little ass out of the way and let me in," she said.

Riley rolled his eyes but reluctantly moved aside so Mia could drag her over packed suitcase into his tiny apartment. But as soon as she walked in she wrinkled her nose in disgust. Clothes and trash littered the floors and furniture. The dishes were overflowing in the sink and it smelled almost like a locker room. "Dude!" she said. "Do you ever clean this place?"

"Every couple of months..." he said.

"Eww!" she shouted as she stepped on a dirty sock missing it's partner. "Oh, I have some serious work to do."

"Yeah, you see?" Riley asked. "This is exactly why I did not want you here."

"Too bad," she replied. "Well, this is gonna be fun," she added sarcastically taking another look around the grungy apartment.

"You can say that again," Riley muttered. Three weeks with Mia? Oh, hell no.

--

"Oh. My. God." Mia picked up a dish from the sink that had an unidentifiable stain on it with only two fingers. And there was something _growing _on it. "What the hell is the matter with you?" she asked the man sitting on the now, thanks to Mia, clean couch.

"What?" he asked.

"Your plate is growing something. I'm not even sure I know what it's growing on..." she replied wrinkling her nose again.

"So what?" he asked again, intently watching the TV.

"So what?" she repeated. "You don't- You know what?" she asked herself not even bothering to finish her comment to Riley. "I don't even know why I try with you. I just clean this... and get it over with." And she turned back to the crusty plate.

"Good idea," Riley mumbled not paying any attention to what she was doing.

"Hey, Riley guess what?" she asked. He didn't respond. "I've decided to change my career to stripping."

"That's great," he said over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know right," she replied. "I thought it was a little bold, but Ben seemed to be okay with it so, I thought 'What the hell?'"

"Good to know," he muttered.

"Men," Mia growled turning back to her task at hand.

--

Mia was sorting through a bunch of old, stacked papers in Riley's office, or what he used as an office. It was tiny, the size of a walk in closet. The walls were lined with other stacks of papers, some old, some new, some... she didn't really know where they came from. She finished with the current stack and moved to his cluttered desk.

She picked up about a half a dozen of paper weights and moved them to the back. More papers lay under the last weight and when she picked it up, she caught a glimpse of the title of the page underneath. She had to do a double take, as if she didn't already know what it said. The title read: _The Templar's Treasure and Other Myths That are True_, _by Riley Poole_.

"A manuscript?" she asked aloud and flipped to a page around the middle. Red marks and suggestions covered the pages and she read a small excerpt that had no red on it. She began to read:

_Nothing can compare to the feeling I had seeing my best friends so happy that they had finally found what they spent 180 years searching for. A coat a grime covered us all and deep red blood for both me and Mia, yet none of those things mattered. All that mattered was the silver and gold treasure that filled a room the size of two football fields. Statues stood tall amongst the small coins and chests at their feet. Historical artifacts from all corners of the world lay in bulks, each pile specific to the country it came from. All the awful things that had accompanied us along the journey seemed so small in comparison to all the good that came out of it. Not only did we find the greatest treasure known to man, my friends were happier than I had seen them in years. And that was the greatest treasure I found down in the deep cavern under the Trinity Graveyard. _

It was at that exact moment, Riley walked in. "Hey, Mia?" he called. "Where'd you put my-?" but he stopped when he saw what was in her hand. "Oh, no."

"Riley, you're writing a book?" she asked holding up the thick stack of papers.

"Yeah," he sighed, "but you weren't really supposed to know about it until it was finished. That's just my first draft. My publisher corrected a lot of things."

"Riles, I've only read like a paragraph, but this is really good," she said. He smiled and rubbed the back of his neck in slight embarrassment. "I would be opposed to finish reading this."

"Well," he said taking the stack of papers from her hand. "You can wait until I'm finished with it." Mia rolled her eyes, but smiled and returned to sifting through the other stacks of papers. Riley turned and walked from the room, still grinning because she like even a paragraph of his writing.

--

"Ah! Finally clean!" Mia said. Two weeks after she first started staying with Riley, his apartment was spotless.

"Okay, you're right," Riley said looking around. "Cleaner is better. I'm gonna have to start keeping it clean around here."

"Thank you," Mia said. "Finally you agree with me."

"I wouldn't go that far..." Riley said. Mia laughed and nudged him. "Maybe I would."

"That's what I thought," she replied. "You look like you're feeling better. How's your chest?"

"Better," he replied sitting down on the couch. "Still a little tightness but I mean, it's better than it was two weeks ago so..."

"That's good."

"Yeah, so I'm pretty sure you can go back to your home now," he hinted not even remotely discreetly.

"Oh, no," she replied. "The doctor said three weeks and I intend to stay the full three weeks. Maybe even longer..."

"Oh, please don't," he replied. "I mean, this little pow wow has been great and all but I really don't think I could stand more than a week of you waiting on me. It's getting a little excessive."

"Well, it all depends on what your doctor says," she said.

"If you bribe him I swear to God-" he started and Mia laughed.

"Chill," she said. "I'm above such things."

"Right..." he replied skeptically.

--

It wasn't the simple fact that Mia was annoying that I wanted her out of there. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was having nightmares and I was scared she'd find out about them. I was doing pretty well about hiding them but... they were getting worse. I thought I could hold out just one more week about hiding it. Apparently I was dead wrong.

That same night, I had the worst dream I'd had since I was little.

--

Mia awoke from her sleep with a jolt at the sound of screaming. At first she thought that someone down the hall was making the sound but, it was too close... Then her mind leaped to Riley. Flinging herself from the make-shift bed on the couch, the blankets scattered all over the floor. But that wasn't her priority at the moment. She had to get to Riley.

When she burst through his door, he was thrashing violently in his bed eyes closed. _A nightmare..._ she thought. Dashing to his side, she gently took his shoulders and shook. "Riley!" she said. "Riley, wake up!"

He yanked himself from the dream and stared directly at her worried face. "Dream?" was all he could mutter. She nodded and made him lie down again. His heavy breathing coupled with the sweat pouring down his forehead made Mia even more worried about her friend then the simple dream alone.

He gagged suddenly and tried not to puke in his bed. Mia sat up and out of the way as he sped towards his bathroom. Finally he made it, and emptied his stomach contents into the white bowl. Mia silently knelt beside him as he retched violently again, spewing more vomit into the toilet. Her hand lightly rested on his back as a simple, silent sign of comfort.

When he finished, Mia reached out, flushed the toilet and helped Riley to his feet and over to the sink. She turned it on, let him wash his mouth out, then handed him a tissue. She then led his over to his bed, sat him down and walked back into the bathroom. With a now wet wash cloth in her hand, she went back into the bedroom and sat down next to Riley.

The cool washcloth felt pleasant on his hot forehead. "You okay?" she whispered gently taking his hand.

"Yeah," he replied. "I'm okay."

"You want to tell me what that dream was about?" she asked.

"No," he whispered shaking his head. "Not really."

"Okay," she nodded sitting silently with him until his breathing and color returned to normal, or what was normal at the time.

It was a good twenty minutes later before she spoke again. "How about now?"

Riley sighed and shook his head again. "Come on Riles, please," she begged with sad eyes. "You just woke up screaming and blew chunks all over your bathroom. Please," she said again.

His eyes closed but he realized she was right. He began to speak in a low, hoarse voice. "Ever since I was little, I've had this recurring nightmare. It's almost always the same one and it comes with others that aren't as bad. Whenever something...traumatic happens, they come back. It started when my parents died, then when I started to get bullied in high school. They stopped for a while, until Ian blew up the_ Charlotte_. Again, they went away, but they've been continuous ever since I was shot." Mia sat listening intently and noticed that the bags under his eyes were darker than they should be. She kicked herself for not noticing he was having issues before. He would have noticed if she hadn't been getting sleep.

"They weren't very bad," he assured her. "Mostly, they were just those bizarre dreams that you really couldn't understand. Until... I was attacked. They got worse. I could never remember the dreams when I woke up, but I was sweating and breathing heavy. That doesn't happen with normal dreams. I thought they'd go away but... instead they just kept getting worse until I could vividly remember them when I woke up. There's only been a few dreams I could remember but now I could list at least ten of them. I thought I could hide it until you left. Apparently I was wrong. This was the worst one I've had since I was seven years old," he finished in a whisper.

"I'm sorry," Mia said after a long pause.

"Sorry for what?" he asked.

"For not noticing before," she replied. "I mean, you'd notice if it was me. I'm not a very good friend."

"Eh, don't worry about it," he said with a small smile. "I've spent twenty years hiding it. I should be pretty good by now."

Mia gave a half smile and said, "Okay then. Well, I am here if you do want to talk about the dreams themselves."

"I know you are," he replied lightly squeezing her hand with a smile. They sat in quiet for another ten minutes on the edge of the bed. Mia finally sighed and stood up. "Wait," he said, not releasing his hold on her hand. "Will you stay... I mean, I don't really want to be alone..."

"Of course I will," she said taking her place back on the bed. Both of the adults laid down, Riley with his head on Mia's chest. Her arms wrapped around him, like she was comforting a small child. Her fingers gently ran through his hair, calming him until they fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

--

When Riley awoke the next morning, he was slightly disappointed to find he was alone in his bed. Sunlight peeked through the crack under the door telling him he had slept in. As soon as he looked at the clock, he found out how much. The red LED numbers read: 11:48. His fingers ran through his messy hair as he pushed aside the covers, putting his bear feet on the blue carpet.

Yawning, he walked down the hallway and into the kitchen to find Mia sitting in a chair around a small table, if you could call it that. He never ate there. It was just there to add to the decor...which wasn't much. A book rested in her lap and her coffee was half empty or half full depending on how you looked at it. She was still in her pajamas, but her hair was combed back into a tight ponytail. "Morning sleepyhead," she said without looking up from her book.

"Morning," he replied sitting himself down in a chair across from her. "How long have you been up?"

"About..." she said looking at her watch. "Two hours give or take a few minutes."

"Why didn't you wake me up?" he asked with another yawn.

"You hadn't been getting much sleep and I figured that since you woke up at three o'clock in the morning, you didn't need to get up early in the morning. Granted, I didn't think you sleep until noon, but...whatever," she replied. "Although I did check on you every half hour just to make sure you weren't having another nightmare while I was gone."

Riley was hurdled into a shocked silence. He put a hand on the back of his neck and mumbled, "Thanks."

"You don't need to thank me," she said with a smile. "You do whatever it takes to protect your family."

"Wow..." he whispered. "I don't know...know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," she replied. "But I do know how to compensate for you puking your guts out last night."

"Really?" he asked. "How's that?"

"We're going out tonight."

"Out?" he asked. "With this face?" He gestured to his green tinted face.

"Oh it's not that bad," she replied. "A little foundation will fix that."

"You are not putting make up on me," he said shaking his head.

"Well, we're going out with or without it on so you decide," she responded putting her book down on the table. Riley groaned a little but nodded in agreement anyway. Hopefully she was right. It could be a little fun...

--

_A month later..._

"Yeah, all right chief," Riley said while on the phone. "Thank you. Bye." His finger clicked the little red button and he put his phone back into his pocket. Ben, Mia, Abigail, and Riley were strolling along the grounds of Ben and Abigail's new house. It was a large estate with a very big yard. The sun shone down on the happy quartet as they walked leisurely without a care in the world. Ben and Abigail were holding hands between Riley and Mia. "They want us in Cairo next week for the opening of the exhibit," he announced to them. "They're sending a private jet."

"That's fun," Abigail said.

"Yeah, big woop," Riley said bitterly. "You could have had a whole fleet of private jets. Ten percent, Ben. They offered you ten percent and you turned it down."

"Riley, we've been over this," Ben said with a smile. "It was too much. I couldn't accept it." The historians had offered Ben ten percent of the treasure in a Finder's Fee. Ben turned it down. But they wanted to give him something, so they gave him five percent for himself and all the others who found the treasure as well. Ben gave each Mia, his father, Abigail, Riley, and himself one percent. Even then he was a little reluctant to accept so much considering one percent of ten billion dollars was enough to buy several cars and houses.

"I still have this splinter that's been festering for three months of an old piece of wood," he said pointing at his finger.

"They didn't take that out at the hospital?" Mia asked grabbing his hand and looking at his finger.

"Tee hee," he said yanking his hand away.

"I'll tell you what," Ben said stopping in front of the road. "The next time we find a treasure that redefines the history for all man kind, you can make the call in Finder's Fee."

"That one's not as funny," Riley said with a sarcastic smile. "What do you care?" he asked. "You got the girl." Mia's eyebrows shot up from behind Ben and Abigail for no apparent reason. Riley gave what looked like a wink, and her expression turned neutral again.

"That's true," both Ben and Abigail said, both kissing each other.

"Yeah, yeah rub it in," Riley muttered. "Enjoy your spoils, while I sit on one percent," he said jumping into a fiery red Ferrari. "One stinkin' percent," he continued to mumble. "Half of one percent actually."

"I'm sorry for your suffering, Riley," Ben said leaning on the car.

"For the record, Ben, I like the house," Riley said with a smile.

"I chose this estate because in 1812 Charles Carrol-" Ben started but Riley interrupted him.

"Yeah, someone did something in history and had fun," he said, putting the key in the ignition. "Could've had a bigger house..." he said.

Mia could see that a fight was about to break out so she interjected with a question. "So who wants to pick me up next week to go to the airport?" she asked.

"Ooh! Ooh! Pick me!" Riley said sarcastically. "Oh, wait. Just kidding. I don't want to drive all the way out to East Jesus Nowhere Ville."

"It is not called East Jesus Nowhere Ville. The town is called Rosaryville and it takes a half hour at most to drive into town," she objected angrily. "And I happen to like the solitude."

"And I happen to think you're crazy," Riley said. "Oh, snap, crackle, pop. Eat them Rice Crispies!"

"You're a dork," Mia said.

"And this would be news to you how?"

"He's got a point," Ben added.

"Oh, shut up!" she snapped at Ben. "Just drive away Ferrari boy." As soon as he was clear down the driveway, Abigail pulled out a piece of paper from her book and handed it to Mia's brother.

"What's this?" he asked.

"A map," she replied simply.

"A map to where?"

"You'll figure it out," she teased.

"Okay!" Mia said. "I guess that would be my cue to leave. I'll see you guys in about a week." Neither of them responded so she just hopped in her own car and drove away. She drove until she hit a small diner about ten miles from Ben and Abigail's house. She smiled when she saw the car she wanted in the parking lot.

She pulled her own car in, cut the engine, and walked into the diner. Riley stood up from the table he was at and grinned. Walking over to him, she asked, "Do you think they bought it?"

"Oh, I'm definitely sure they bought it," he said wrapping his arms around her middle and pressing his lips against hers for a deep kiss.

--

A/N: Don't worry. This isn't the end. I know that it was kind of fast but I didn't want you to really see it coming. I promise I will explain it all in the next chapter. Like how it happened, why they're hiding it, etc. Review if you feel the need to.


	19. A Plan Put Into Motion

Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I only own Mia.

A/N: So this one is full of the fluffy stuff. And I mean full. It may be a little much for you, so if you can't handle the fluff don't read it. Review if you want to. Thanks for sticking with me this far... You deserve some sort of an award...

--

When they broke apart, their foreheads pressed together and both their faces held huge grins. "You were great, by the way," Mia complemented. "'East Jesus Nowhere Ville'? How'd you come up with that one?"

"I've been working on my improv skills as you so kindly suggested a few months back," he replied with a smile, "and it just came to me."

"Aha. Well, that's good. Because they both still think I live in East Jesus Nowhere Ville and not with you," she said.

"Thank you." And he kissed her again.

"Remind me why we haven't told them yet," Mia said when they broke apart.

"I didn't want the both of them rubbing our noses in the fact that they knew before we did," he replied. "I wanted some solitude."

"Right," she replied.

"So _when_ are we going to tell them?" he asked her.

"I was thinking after Cairo, but before Paris," she replied sitting down back at the table. The waitress as Riley joined her came over and asked for their orders. "I'll just have some coffee, please," she said.

"Me too," Riley agreed.

"Thank you," Mia said and the red-headed woman walked away.

"How are we going to tell them?" he asked.

She said, "Well, Ben is a treasure hunter and they like clues so... I was thinking we'd drop them little nuances. Like... us not fighting or you having your hand around my waist. Not to mention we could disappear mysteriously during the dinner, and reappear together..."

"And you wonder why I love you," he said with a grin.

"Oh, I never wondered," she said with a grin of her own.

--

That night, Riley and Mia lay together on the couch watching a movie. As the light blue glow was cast over the living room, Riley looked down at Mia, whose he was on his chest and he asked, "You remember our first kiss?"

"Hell yeah," she answered. "How could I forget? It was the night after you had the nightmares, remember?"

"And you took me out," Riley said nodded his head with a smile.

"Yep," she said. "You're hair was longer then," she said. A smile crossed her lips as she thought back to that fateful night.

"_Here, come on," she said taking him by the hand. It was dark but the local park was still lit and children ran about. _

"_What are we doing?" Riley asked as he followed her. _

"_Just wait," she smiled. Mia led him to a clearing in the field and she sat down. Riley stared down at her until she patted the ground next to her. "Well don't just stand there like an idiot. Sit down."_

_Riley complied and watched her look up. Following suit he looked up too. Stars littered the dark sky and he heard Mia sigh. "You know, Ben and I used to do this all the time. Before he got boring."_

"_Ben?" Riley asked. "Boring? How so?"_

"_He just got so into finding the Charlotte we stopped doing fun things like this," she explained. "I miss it."_

"_Miss doing it all together? Or miss doing it with Ben?" he asked._

"_Both I guess," she replied looking back down at the grass. Riley followed suit as she continued. "It just reminds me that no matter how bad things get, there's always something worse out there. And there's always a silver lining. Stars might burn out but more are being created at the same time. There's always a good thing out there. I can think of three good things about my life even with all the bad things right now off the top of my head."_

"_Really?" he asked with a small smirk. "And what might they be?"_

"_One: I found the Templar Treasure and proved my family's sanity-"_

"_-all the while being chased by a psycho with a gun," Riley added. _

"_Two:" she continued as if he hadn't spoken. "My brother is happier than he's ever been. I mean, he and Abigail are perfect for each other."_

"_Which is kind of sad, simply because of the fact there's more than two people obsessed with history like Ben is..."_

"_Pessimist," Mia said. _

"_And what's the third thing? You said you had three things."_

"_Well, there's this guy. He's saved my life more than enough times and has always been there when I need to talk. And he doesn't try to fix me like most guys want to do. He just listens. And sometimes that's all I need. Someone to listen. And he's been there through the physical and emotional and even the psychological trials even if he didn't want to be."_

"_And who might this be?" Riley wondered. _

"_You," she said with a smile and bumping her shoulder against his. "I don't know what it is about you Riley, but I'm drawn to you. I care. Sometimes I wonder if I care too much..."_

"_So how do you know if you care too much?" he asked glancing down at the grass in front of him._

"_I don't," she replied truthfully. _

"_Why do you still care too much then?" he wondered. _

"_Because I always think about what would happen if I didn't care at all," she answered. "I would have never really gotten to know you, never been able to really trust someone other than my brother. I mean, Ben's great, but sometimes, he's just too much to handle. I don't know when it happened, or why it happened or even how it happened but... well, I'm pretty sure I've fallen in love with you." Riley's head lifted up and looked at her. "During this entire seven year roller coaster, I've developed feelings for you that I didn't even know about until you almost died. I realized then that I can't live without you. I mean, I'd understand if you didn't feel the same way, but I realized that life can be _**so**_ short and I needed to tell you before time ran out." She stopped and Riley stayed silent. "Please say something," she said._

"_I can't say anything," Riley said._

"_Oh..." she replied trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. _

"_But that doesn't mean I won't do anything," he said putting his hand on her cheek._

"_I don't-" she started but was interrupted. She felt lips come into contact with her own. The kiss was soft and light, yet filled with compassion. "-understand," she finished breathless blinking rapidly. _

"_Mia," Riley said. "I love you more than you could ever know. And I didn't tell you because I didn't want to ruin the relationship we already had. You are the most amazing person I've met and I can't imagine life without you." _

_Tears pooled in Mia's eyes yet a smile spread across her face. "God, I don't know what to say," she said._

"_So just stay quiet," he whispered._

"_I think I can do that," she replied leaning in for another kiss. _

_--_

You remember when I said that a few words could set into motion events you can never take back? I truly stand by that. I just never thought it'd be those few words. So much had happened because of them.

Mia and I had a plan. We had yet to put that plan into motion... But we were going to do it. Finally, we both decided to do exactly as she said, only during the dinner the night of the opening of the exhibit. There's always a formal dinner/ meet and greet the famous people party. I hate them, but this time... This time it was going to be fun...

--

As soon as they arrived in Cairo, the quartet went straight to their hotel rooms. They received one large room with two beds and a smaller, adjoining room with a single bed. "Okay," Ben said. "How about Mia, me and Abigail take the two beds in here and Riley, you can have the adjoining room."

"Okay," Riley said taking his stuff to his own little corner of the hotel. Mia did the same and both lightly smiled as they walked by each other, knowing exactly what the other two might think.

Abigail arched an eyebrow at the bizarre exchange. She expected someone to complain about something but... it didn't happened. And they didn't even fight on the plane... Something was up with the two of them, and she was going to find out what if it killed her.

--

Midnight struck as soon as Mia felt a hand over her mouth. Panicking, her eyes snapped open and she gasped. But when she saw Riley's facing peering down at her, she calmed. "You scared the-" but she was cut off when his hand clamped tighter. A finger was put to his lips and he pointed out the door.

Without another word, he took her hand and silently lead her to his adjoining room. When they got there, he shut the door without a sound and turned back to Mia with a wide smile on his face. "You scared the hell out of me!" she said lightly slapped his chest.

"Sorry," he said with a smile, then gave her a deep kiss which she returned.

"We have to be quiet," she whispered when she broke off the kiss.

"It's not me I'm worried about," he said with an evil grin. She giggled lightly as he carried her to his bed.

--

About two hours later, Mia stood up collecting her clothes from the floor and putting them on. "Ben's an early riser," she whispered. "I don't want to be gone when he wakes up. That would just be too easy..."

"True," he replied. She gave him one last kiss before she walked out of his room and into her own. The door closed silently, and just when she thought she was gonna make it, the floor boards creaked and Ben stirred.

"Mia?" he asked groggily. "What are you doing up?"

Mia thought quickly and gave a false yawn. She then replied, "If you must know, I was going to the bathroom."

"But the bathroom's the other way," Ben said sitting up.

"I just finished. Duh," she said. "Why do you have to be so nosy?" And she went back to her own room. Ben laid back down, apparently buying the lame excuse. Mia sighed in relief as soon as she got into her own bed. He wouldn't find out until she wanted him to. Silently, she thanked her acting skills and drifted off to sleep.

--

Both Mia and Abigail walked out of the lager hotel room after getting ready for the opening of the exhibit. Abigail was dressed in a strapless dark blue floor length dress with a lighter blue sash around her shoulders that matched Ben's tie. His suit was still the conventional black but they had to slightly match their 'dates'. Her hair was pulled up into an intricate bun tightly pulled to the back of her head.

Mia was dressed slightly different. Her dress went down to her knees as opposed to the floor and had small spaghetti straps. It was a light green with white flowers that lined the hem of the dress. Her short brown hair was left straight and down so it just grazed her shoulder blades. Riley had a green tie with his black suit. Ben had decided that since he was going with Abby that Mia should go with Riley, and he expected an argument between the two about how Riley should do this, that, and the other thing, but there was none, which surprised him. And nothing surprised him anymore. But they just went right along with it and didn't say a thing to him. Abigail was right. Something was definitely up...

He didn't think anymore on this matter because his eyes traveled down to their feet. Mia was wearing high heels like any normal person going to a formal event, but Riley was wearing black converse. Unbelievable.

"Riley," Ben said. "Why are you wearing those shoes?"

"Well I figured that since you're torturing me to go to this stupid dinner, then I should feel a little more comfortable and not suffer through the terrible shoes," Riley replied with a smile.

"Fine," Ben said. "Just don't act like an idiot."

"Oh, Ben," Mia said. "I thought you knew him..." Mia replied. Ben was expecting Riley to make some sort of a comeback but just like all the times during this trip before, it didn't come. Now he _knew_ something was up.

--

The opening of the exhibit went as planned. After the ribbon was cut, they walked around and met a bunch of rich people who congratulated them about the 'extraordinary find'. Ben and Abigail left Mia and Riley a short while ago, and when Abigail wanted to go back and find them, she stopped and Ben bumped into her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Look and where Riley's hand is," Abigail said pointing to his sister and best friend.

"So? It's on her waist," Ben said looking on at the both of them now. "So what?"

"Ben, look at where your hand is," she said pointing down. Ben saw his hand was on his girlfriend's waist exactly where Riley's was on Mia's, like he was keeping her close to him...

"Oh, Ab, you don't think-"

"Oh, you know exactly what I'm thinking," she interrupted him. "And by the end of the night, I'm going to know it." And she walked away. _Is she right?_ Ben thought. _Did they finally admit it to each other? _

--

"Do you think they're watching us?" Mia whispered to Riley out of the corner of her mouth.

"I think so," he whispered back.

"Okay, I'm going to pretend to go to the bathroom," she said. "You follow in a minute." Riley nodded and watched her leave. A minute after, he followed her and saw out of the corner of his eye Ben and Abigail watching intently.

--

"Did you jut see that?" Abigail asked. Ben nodded his head. "Ooh, as soon as we get out of here I'm gonna confront them and demand to know the truth."

Ben had no doubts about that, but it all seemed a little staged for him. They had to know he and Abby were watching them, especially after them not expecting the lack of fighting. It was just weird... Was this what they wanted? Or were they just being careless? He was bound to find out eventually.

--

"They definitely saw me leave," Riley said walking up to his girlfriend.

"Good," she replied. "They should definitely know by the end of the night. I mean, did you see the look on Ben's face when you didn't retaliate when I called you stupid?"

"About that..."

"I don't think you're stupid," she replied. "We should probably go back in ten minutes just to make sure they don't get 'suspicious'," she said.

"Right..." he responded. His eyes traveled around the room and back to Mia. "I never got to tell you. You look beautiful."

"Thank you," she said. "You don't look half bad yourself." After a pause, she asked, "So what are we going to do for the next ten minutes?"

"Well, since we're here..." he said putting his hand on the back of her neck and leaning in for a kiss.

"Might as well," she shrugged also leaning in.

--

Ten minutes later Riley was the first to reenter the party. He saw Ben and walked up to him. "Hey, Ben."

"Hey Riley," he said. "Where's Mia?"

"How should I know?" he asked.

"She's your date," Ben said.

"Because of you," he replied. Ben shot him a look and he said. "She's probably in the bathroom. That's where girls hang out, right?"

Before Ben could respond Mia walked up beside him. "Where were you?" he asked.

"Bathroom," she said.

"Why?" he asked.

"Why do you think someone would go to a bathroom?" she wondered.

"Mia..." he said in a warning tone.

"I had to pee!" she said. "And because I care about my appearance I stayed to fix my hair and make up."

"Why?"

"My mascara was running," she answered.

"Really?"

"Yeah. What's with the third degree?" she asked.

"Sorry," he said. "Just wondering."

"Right..." she said skeptically. "Well, I'm going to get something to drink. I'll be right back." And she walked away towards the drink table. Ben excused himself from Riley's company to go and speak with Abigail.

"So what happened?" she asked him. "Did she admit it?"

"No," Ben replied. Abigail sighed in frustration and stopped her foot.

"This is getting old," she said.

"Well, the party's almost over," Ben said. "We can ask them as soon as we get back to the hotel where there aren't other people around."

"Fine," she sighed glancing over at Mia again, who was now chatting with some other woman she'd met at the bar. Riley soon came over and placed his hand lightly on the small of her back. Her eyes narrowed just at the prospect of telling them off for hiding it from them.

--

Riley came up and lightly placed his hand on the small of Mia's back, knowing perfectly well, Abigail was watching them. "You think they've figured it out yet?" she whispered not looking at him.

"Yep," he said. "Abigail's giving us the death stare." Mia turned to look but Riley stopped her. "Don't look!" After another pause as someone came to shake hands and introduce themselves to them. When they left Riley spoke again. "As soon as we get back to the hotel, she's gonna really give it to us."

"Oh, that's gonna be fun," Mia said. "Maybe we should go now and get it over with."

"I second that," he said. "Let's go talk to Ben."

--

A/N: So they're gonna spill in the next chapter. I hope you thought some of this was humorous... Review if you feel the need to.


	20. Buy Me a Rose

Disclaimer: Nothing except the story in this chapter is mine... Sadly. I know right?

A/N: So this is the last chapter! I know so sad! But I am coming back for a sequel so you'll have that! It's a cute chapter. Review if you want to. Thanks!

--

The drive back to the hotel was short and quiet. The door hadn't even shut before Abigail said, "I demand to know what is going on between you two."

"As if we didn't know that was coming..." Riley muttered and Mia smiled.

"We have no idea what you're talking about Abigail," Mia said, feigning shock.

"Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about," she said narrowing her eyes. "And you better spill right this minute."

"All right," Riley said slightly scared of what she might do if they didn't tell her. "We have been seeing each other."

"How long? Why haven't you told us yet? Did you plan this?" She spouted off all of these questions very fast until Mia stopped her.

"You know generally, you're supposed to stop after asking the question so we can answer them," she said. Abigail glared at her and Mia started to answer her questions. "Well, we've been dating for about a month."

"What?" Ben asked. "That long? Why haven't you told us?"

"We didn't want you to harp on us about how it took so long for us to admit it," Riley said.

"And yes," Mia said. "We planned this. You guys are treasure hunters. We thought we'd drop you guys clues to figure it out."

"So it was staged," Ben said. "It felt kind of that way."

"I should have known you'd figure that part out," Mia said with a smile. "So you're not mad we didn't tell you before?"

"No," Ben said. "I'm just a little shocked that you couldn't trust us..."

"It's not that we didn't trust you," Mia said defending her decision. "It's just, like Riley said, we knew you'd harp on us and we wanted a few days peace."

"Or a month," Abigail said.

"Sorry," Riley said shrugging his shoulders.

"How did you keep it from us for a month?" Ben asked.

"Uhh," Mia replied. "I'm actually not really sure... It was kind of just a 'make it up as you go along' type things. And surprisingly, it worked."

"Aha," Ben said. His tone changed from questioning to a lighter sound as he continued. "Well, you have to know, we're gonna harp on you guys now."

"Unfortunately," Riley said. "So, come on let us have it." And they did. Both Ben and Abigail spoke at the same time about things that Riley and Mia couldn't understand, but they knew this would happen, so they just stood there and took it.

--

Mia awoke on a normal Saturday morning alone in her's and Riley's bed. They had been dating for a little longer than six months and it had been about eight months since they found the treasure. She stretched out, placing her hand on pillows on either side of her but felt something that wasn't fabric. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she turned onto her side and saw a single rose on her boyfriend's pillow with a small note attached to it. It read: _Morning sleepyhead. I've done all your chores so you can relax. Don't believe me? Go check for yourself._ Mia cocked her head to one side in thought and wonder. Riley did all her chores? No chance. She got up from the bed, carrying the rose with her into the kitchen.

To her surprise, there were no dishes in the sink. Out of force of habit, she checked in the dishwasher to find, not dishes, but another rose and note. _Told you. Lemme guess, you're going to check the laundry now..._ Taking the two flowers, she walked briskly to the laundry room. There were no clothes in the dryer, nor the washer. When she checked the hamper, there lay another rose.

_I know you too well. You should relax today. How about you...read a book..._ he wrote. She shook her head in disbelief. "All right, Riley," she said to no one. "I'll humor you. To the book shelf." Searching around the several shelves she got the idea about his own book that lay in her side table drawer. When she opened the wooden drawer in her room next to her side of the bed, she found his book with the red flower perched on top of it. _You really are too good at these puzzle things... _said the note. _But enough of that. Books are old. How about a little TV?_

With all four flowers in her hand, she walked into the living room. It wasn't on the coffee table, nor was it lying next to the TV. But then she thought of a TV listing and she went to investigate the small basket near the TV. There, on top of a TV guide was the rose she had been seeking and yes, another note. _Well done! Now that your at the TV, how about a little snack before you completely relax._

Before she walked completely into the kitchen, she set down all the previous 'clues' she had found. Door after door, she searched until she found what she wanted. _You seriously need to get a life. But I love you anyway. Like I said. Relax. You don't have to do anything today. Your welcome..._ Mia's lips curled into a smile and she set the other rose with the matching flowers and sat on the couch, wanting to do exactly what the note he wrote said.

--

A few hours later, the phone rang. Mia got up and when she got to the phone, she found another rose and a note. She chuckled lightly, picking both it and the phone up. "Hello?" she answered.

"Mia?" a woman said on the other end. "It's Abigail. I was going out to do a few things and was wondering if you'd like to come with me."

"Sure," Mia replied. "That'd be nice."

"Great! I'll be there in a half hour, okay?"

"Okay. See you then." And she hung up the phone. Out of pure curiosity, she started to read the note. _If you're reading this Abigail probably called. Go have fun with her. You might want to wear a skirt..._ She shook her head with a wide grin on her face wondering exactly why he was doing all of this.

Like he suggested, she went to the drawer with all her skirts in it and found... you want to venture a guess? That's right, a rose and a note. _I see you took my advice... And yes this is a distraction but it's a fun distraction. Oh! And don't forget to do your makeup..._ "I never have, honey," she said to the piece of paper and she grabbed a tee that matched the skirt she pulled out, then walked to the bathroom. After changing she pulled out her makeup bag and found the rose. _I hope you have a great time with Abby. I love you and I'll see you when you get home!_ was all the note said.

She finally finished getting ready and walked to the front door, but she realized she forgot her purse. When she went over to grab it, another rose fell from the table. _You didn't think I was done did you?_ it asked. _If so, you really don't know me at all._ Laughing, she continued to read. _I hope you have fun again. Goodness knows I will..._ For the hundredth time that day, she rolled her eyes and then walked out the door.

Abigail stood just outside by her car and smiled as she walked up. "Okay," Mia said walking up to her. "What the hell is Riley planning?" she asked.

"That is a surprise," the blond replied. "I was sworn to secrecy."

"That's bull but I'll let it slide," Mia said. She went to get into Abigail's car, but she stopped her.

"Let's take your car," she offered.

"Okay..." she said with raised eyebrows. When she opened the door, there on the passager's seat lay yet another rose._ I see Abby's doing her job. Good for her. I'll see you when you get back! Love you..._ the note said. Abigail gave a sly grin before plopping down in her seat and shutting the door.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked. "Let's go." Mia narrowed her eyes at the other woman before she put the keys in the ignition.

--

They spent the next few hours going from store to store, having girl talk and Mia almost completely forgot about why she was out. Almost. It was nearly dark outside when they drove up to her apartment but before she would let Abigail out of the car she asked again, "What is Riley planning?"

"Again, that's a surprise," she said. "And I'm sure if you just walk inside, you'll find out what this is all about. I'll see you later." With that, she hopped out of Mia's car and into her own. The blond waved as she drove by.

Mia shook her head and got out of her car, shutting the metal door behind her. But when she got to the door, on the mat in front of her was another rose and note. The note read: _If you're counting, this makes twelve... A dozen to be more loquacious. _Mia smiled and opened the white door to find Riley standing next to a table lit with two candles. The rest of the the apartment was dark.

"Can _you_ tell me what's going on?" she asked with a grin.

"Here," he said. "I have something for you."

"Something else?" she asked walking over to him. With a smile, he handed her a small box. When she opened it, she let out a small gasp. Inside lay a necklace with a square charm that had words on it. It said: _**Because I'm 'passionate' about you**._ Next to the words was a tiny diamond heart."Oh my God, Riley," she said. "This is platinum. It's expensive..."

"I can afford it," he shrugged. "You like it?"

"It's beautiful!" she said. "But you never answered my question... What's this all about? I mean, it's not our anniversary. It's not my birthday. Valentine's day is ages away. Unless you're trying to butter me up to let you buy a new car."

"No," he said. "None of that." He sighed, then continued. "I heard a song the other day on the radio and it just reminded me about all the things you do to tell me how much you love me and how I do hardly anything for you. So I figured I should do something and this came to mind. Well, I didn't come up with the whole thing. The singe roses and notes were Abigail, but I wrote the notes."

"So this is just all because you wanted to show how much I mean to you?" she asked.

"Pretty much," he replied.

"Aw!" she said kissing him. "I already know you love me."

"I know, I just wanted to. You mean everything to me." She 'aw'ed again and hugged him.

"Thanks Riley," she whispered in his ear. "You mean everything to me too." Riley smiled.

"You know, I also made dinner."

"You did not!" she said.

"Okay...so Ben helped a little, but I-"

"-had the idea," she finished with a smile. "Okay, Romeo. What did you make?"

"Well..." he sighed with a smile.

--

A/N: So that's the end of this story! I thought I'd end on a happy, cute, fluffy note. BTW, the last scene was inspired by the song 'Buy me a Rose'. Maybe you've heard it? Hense the title... It just sort of sparked this in my head so I wrote about it. I made it to twenty chapters! Yay me! I hope you enjoyed. I do plan on doing a sequel. I should have the first chapter up in a few days. Thank you to all who reviewed and stuck with me to the end. You rock!


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